Singer, Marilyn. Mirror
Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse. Ill. José Masse. New York: Dutton
Children's Books, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-535-4701-7.
SUMMARY
What
thoughts were going through Sleeping Beauty's mind as she waited for her prince
to come, and what thoughts were going through his mind as he cut through the
brier to reach her? How did the Ugly Duckling feel about his plain drab looks?
Did he dare to hope that one day he might change? Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse explores the thoughts of
infamous fairy tale characters using free verse poetry in a magical world of
reflection swirling around twelve well-known fairy tales. However, Marilyn Singer creates a fun poetic
twist to her poems, a twist she calls reverso. Using this unique form of poetry, a form of her own creation, she explores the
thoughts or actions of one of the tale's characters, and then reverses the poem
and behold! A completely different point of view materializes before your eyes. What really happened when Goldilocks
entered the Bears' home? An excerpt from the poem, "Bears in the
News" reveals two different newspaper headings included in the poem:
"Asleep in cub's bed./Blonde/Startled By Bears." However, another
newspaper reports: "Bears Startled/By Blonde/Asleep in cub's bed." This
is just a small sample of one of the most incredible books of poetry to enter
the genre in the 21st century. Be sure to listen to the audio link below to
hear Marilyn Singer and Joe Morton read one of the poems from the book: While listening, you will discover the magic of the words in one of the best poetry books to enter the market since, well, once upon a time!
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The
evolution of poetry continues as Marilyn Singer takes poetry to a new level in
her anthology, Mirror Mirror: A Book of
Reversible Verse. Singer created a new form of poetry called reverso one day as she wrote a poem
about her cat sitting on a chair. Reverso
involves writing two poems, but there is a trick when writing the second
poem: The same lines from the first poem must be used and written in reverse
order of the original. With a little editing of punctuation and capitalization,
the lines written in reverse order create an entirely new poem with new
meanings, thoughts, and perspectives - a reflection of the original poem. It involves the
same topic, but at the same time opposite ideas. Ingenious!
She
masterfully uses this technique to create a poetry collection based on fairy
tale characters. Through her poems, the characters take on a new interpretation
and are seen in a new light. The thoughts of Sleeping Beauty as she sleeps are
similar to those of the Prince who must cut through brier in order to reach
her. However, the thoughts reveal a contrast of feeling even
in their similarity. "Mirror Mirror," a reverso poem based on the fairy tale "Snow White" reveals
the contrast between Snow White and her stepmother. Snow White's poem shows her innocence and her
love for the dwarves who assist her.
Then, the lines rewritten in reverse reveal the twisted, evil intent of
her wicked stepmother. The poems themselves are magic happening before the reader's eyes and the listener's ears.
Adding to
the beauty of the poetry, José
Masse's illustrations capture the idea of reverso
in his art using vibrantly colored illustrations. On the page opposite the
reverso poem, Masse draws two pictures, divided by an implied line of symmetry. Each picture creatively depicts the poem's theme: Innocence and evil, fright and shock, Beauty
and Beast. The pictures themselves cause the reader to pause to look and then become
lost in the drawing's detailed characters and their surroundings. Each
illustration embellishes the poem's meaning. Between the poems and the
illustrations, Mirror Mirror: A Book of
Reversible Verse becomes a work of art in poetry and pictures.
AWARDS AND REVIEWS
ALA's
Notable Children's Recordings list (2012) (read by Marilyn Singer and Joe
Morton)
ALA Notable
Children's Books (2011)
Booklist
starred (01/15/10)
Horn Book
starred (03/01/10)
Kirkus
Reviews starred (02/15/10)
Library
Media Connection starred (05/10/10)
Publishers
Weekly starred (02/08/10)
School
Library Journal starred (01/10/10)
"A
must-purchase that will have readers marveling over a visual and verbal
feast." Horn Book (March/April 2010)
"A
mesmerizing and seamless celebration of language, imagery and
perspective." Kirkus Reviews
(February 2010)
CONNECTIONS
Topical Poetry (Fairy Tales) Ages 8+
*Websites:
Author's
Website: http://marilynsinger.net/
*Audio recording of "Do You Know My Name?" a poem based on "Rumpelstiltskin"
Read by Marilyn Singer and Joe Morton. http://marilynsinger.net/books/mirror-mirror-dutton-2010/
Take a minute to listen! You will be
amazed!
*Enrichment
Activities
Try to write a reverso poem! It's
challenging!
Discuss the different points of view or
contrast in scenes revealed in the poems. How does Marilyn Singer effectively
use words to accomplish the contrast?
PERSONAL
RESPONSE
Amazing! Incredible! Fun! Captivating!
Intriguing! Brilliant! Those thoughts, and more like them, ran through my mind
as I read this book and explored the illustrations. It is impossible to read
the book just once, or twice, or three times. With each rereading, new
discoveries are made about the form of reverso
and ideas leap at how it can be used in other topical formats. This is a
must-have for all poetry collections!
Mirror Mirror: A Book
of Reversible Verse. cover illustration. Internet on-line. Accessed October 6, 2012 from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/marilyn-singer/mirror-mirror
No comments:
Post a Comment