Inventing new poetic forms isn't for the faint of heart or the stupid.  Fortunately, author Marilyn Singer is both brave and brilliant, as evidenced by both this enchanting book and her oeuvre.  Noted for her collections of poetry for children on various themes such as water, the sky, and mythological creatures, this experienced writer created reversos: "When you read a reverso down, it is one poem. When you read it up, with changes allowed only in punctuation and capitalization it is a different poem."  This explanation, given by Singer at the end of the book, along with her first reverso:

A cat                                Incomplete:
without                            A chair
a chair:                           without
Incomplete                    a cat.

Sound confusing?  It takes concentration, especially at first. It helps that Singer selected very familiar characters and tales, and that the pages with text are in different colors, both the background or field, and the print. But what really puts this book in a league of its own is the perfect relationship between the illustrations and the poems. Illustrator Josee Masse divides each illustration in half, ingeniously illustrating both poetic parts of the reverso in a unified image.  See the illustration below for the Snow White poem, via Kelly Finemans' blog , Writing and Ruminating.


I love Masse's style and the creative vision she brought to this work. The rich tones, engaging facial expressions, and lovely balance between the darker forces and their whimsical counterparts will give younger readers a break from the brain-work required to follow the deliberate word dance performed in the poems.

Mirror Mirror is one of the most talked about books of the year.  I love the review at 100  Scope Notes as it's written as a reverso.   Over at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast  you can see one of my favorite illustrations (Little Red!), read a poem, and note that fabulous poet and prolific author Jane Yolen commented on the blog entry.  (I wish!)  For an extensive and enthusiastic review, visit Fuse #8/Betsy Bird  and check out her list of other reviews of Mirror Mirror.

I highly recommend this book  for readers who enjoy playing with words, lovers of fairy tales, teachers who teach writing (or fairy tales or poetry), or anyone who loves children's books -- Mirror Mirror is a treasure.

Marilyn Singer's Web site includes some very thoughtful and well-written articles, including one titled "What Makes a Good Poem?" that I plan to revisit.

Josee Masse's site has some fascinating illustrations for health-related clients, as well as her work in children's books. 



Cover image via Book Frontiers, a blogger not nearly as smitten with the book as I am.  Just trying to be fair and balanced, folks.