Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse
Written by Marilyn Singer and Illustrated by Josée Masse
Singer, M., & Masse, J. (2010). Mirror Mirror: A book of reversible verse. Dutton Children’s Books.
Summary:
Mirror Mirror is a collection of poetry that are reimaginings of classic fairy tales. Each poem is written in one perspective, then the poem is flipped, line-by-line, to create a new poem from a different perspective in the same story — creating one complete reverso poem. The only changes of the original poems to their flipped counterparts are capitalization and punctuation. Every reverso poem is accompanied by its own illustration of the fair tale.
Analysis:
Singer connects with core childhood stories in a fascinating way. To be able to write two different poems and perspectives inside of one set of words is great, and to be able to use well-known fairy tales to do it is absolutely marvelous. I appreciate how each poem shows that there are at least two sides of every story. Mirror Mirror uses preestablished stories and characters to have the ability to delve into the perspectives of these characters without having to add extra details (either in the stanzas or in the illustrations) to explain the situations further. While most of the poems used the same words to show the perspectives of different characters, it's interesting that the one I have included as an example, The Doubtful Duckling, is two emotionally different perspectives from the same character. While the rest of the book explores the sides of good/evil or simply just different people in the same story, the poem about the ugly duckling makes the reader consider how one character can have polar opposite emotions about them selves. For me, this poem hit the hardest. The rest of the book lends itself to being more playful and fictitious, but this one could actually speak to the reader on a deeper level, saying that sometimes you may feel untouchable, confident, and self-assured, and other days you may feel defeated, deflated, and unaccomplished. Both of which are perfectly normal.
Masse's illustrations throughout the book are the embodiment of classic fairy tale style. These depictions are what I imagine I would see opening any collection of these tales. They correspond with the reverso style of the poems perfectly by being split in have, depicting each perspective described. Masse also plays with a touch of optical illusion that allows the brain to fill in some empty spaces between each split image.
Excerpt:
The Doubtful Duckling
Activity Idea:
Since most of the reverse poems in Mirror Mirror are based around two different character perspectives, this same premise can be taken to reimagine many popular stories, which could create an activity for any age range. Take Harry Potter for example: for middle school or high school kids, the instructor can give the task of writing a poem from Harry's perspective for one poem that fits a reversed poem in Voldemort's perspective. It would also be great to correspond Mirror Mirror, this activity, and mythological studies or other folklore and legends.
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