Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse

Written by: Marilyn Singer

Illustrated by: Joseé Masse

           Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse is a collection of 14 sets of short poems about traditional fairytales written in reverso, meaning that each poem is presented in two ways: top to bottom and then flipped from bottom to top.  By writing poems with this unique structure, Singer highlights the idea that there are always "two sides to any story."  Through the presentation of alternate perspectives, Singer pushes readers to think critically about what they know of classic fairytales.  Each set of poems is accompanied by an illustration that also draws upon this mirror framework to create a fresh look at many beloved stories including Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Ugly Duckling, and more.

          After reading these poems, I think that Marilyn Singer has accomplished a great feat with this book, as the reverso is a difficult format to follow.  In her "About the Reverso" section of the book, Singer states that "changes [are] allowed in punctuation and capitalization" when reversing the order of lines from one poem to the next, but nothing else may change.  Singer goes on to state that these poems are "rather like creating and solving a puzzle," and I think she has found a puzzle that children would love to hear and explore!

          In addition to her unique structure, Singer also utilizes her wit to create clever wordplay and line break strategies to increase reader engagement with these alternate perspectives.  Here is one example of an alternate perspectives within "Do You Know My Name?" on Rumpelstiltskin:

"Do you know my name?                                     "My foolish self-

Think of straw turned to gold.                                              a girl

In this story.                                                                    by greed

I am                                                                                 betrayed.

famous                                                                          I am liked,

but not                                                                                but not

liked.                                                                                famous.

I am                                                                                       I am

betrayed                                                                     in this story.

by greed,                                       Think of straw turned to gold.

a girl,                                                    Do you know my name?"

                        my foolish self."

The change in perspective highlights the story's ignorance of the girl traditionally thought of as the clever hero in the story, because she has not even been given a name.  Additionally, I love the careful reversal of the ideas of being liked vs. famous.  Masee's illustration aligns well with the text for this poem, because half of the image depicts Rumpelstiltskin's name spelled out in smoke from a fire, while the girl's half presents indecipherable scribbles of her golden thread.

                 Masee's illustrations feature acrylic paintings separated into different segments (usually in halves) to depict the distinct perspectives presented within the reversed poems.  Careful attention is given to color, evidenced by the frequent color reversal between illustration halves.  For example, when focusing on Cinderella, the first image shows Cinderella in able dress in front of a gold background, while the flipped image presents her in a yellow dress on a blue background.  This attention to color creates a stark visual contrast that mirrors the nature of the poetic text.

             In all, this is a wonderful collection of poems with colorful and engaging illustrations that would make a fantastic read aloud for young children.  The familiar emphasis on fairytales and the short length of each poem will resonate especially with young readers, though all who enjoy fairytales will probably connect with this book.  The detail given to the wordplay within each poem will fascinate readers of all ages and lead to an enjoyable experience for all!

            This book was awarded the Cybil Award in Poetry and the Land of Enchantment Picture Book Award.

Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night

Written by: Joyce Sidman

Illustrated by: Rick Allen

        Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night is a Newbery Honor collection of 12 poems of various forms that are brought together to explore the idea of life in the dark night.  Each poem details the lives of different animals or plants at night, and is accompanied by a stunning illustration and informational blurb on the right side of the page to introduce new vocabulary and additional details on the subject of the poem.

        Joyce Sidman demonstrates her mastery of language and artistry within every poem in this book.  She uses a wide variety of poetic forms (i.e. ballad, concrete, uni sunt, etc.) to offer a broad introduction to poem structures.  Additionally, each word is carefully placed to create vivid sensory depictions and to play with the sounds of lines and language flow through rhyme, repetition, alliteration, line breaks, and so much more.  Each poem strings words together to create distinct lines that contribute to readers' understandings to each of the characters presented; with such a wide variety of animal and plant subjects, ranging from oak trees to "dark emperor" owls, Sidman demonstrates the fluidity of poetry to create new experiences and perspectives for any subject.

         The opening stanza of the first poem, "Welcome to the Night," immediately draws readers in:

"To all of you who crawl and creep,

who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep,

who wake at dust and throw off sleep:

Welcome to the night." (p. 6). 

I love this stanza because Sidman utilizes vivid sensory language through onomatopoeia to transport readers with all of the sounds of life in the woods, while the action words connect readers to the movement of life and invite readers into the story.  I also think that the alliteration, rhyme, and repetition of the final line, "Welcome to the night," to close each stanza within the poem make this a great read aloud by allowing children to participate in reciting the poem.

            This book would not have been complete without the intricate illustrations that Rick Allen created.  According to Allen's website, he spent almost two years completing the extensive process of making the linoleum cut prints that accompanied the poems.  This unique illustrative medium, in combination with the dark color palette that Allen used to reflect real the night setting, drew my eyes to the darkness within each illustration.  I found this attraction to the darkness strange because my eye is usually drawn to any and all colors, but the skill of both Allen in his art and Sidman in her text trained my mind to focus on the elements of night.  Additionally, the intricate line within each print created a rich texture and depth to each illustration.

            There are two full-bleed illustrations within the book- on the first and last pages.  The first one depicts dusk, as readers are entering their nighttime journey, and the final one shows dawn and the end of night's reign.  One aspect that immediately caught my attention was the presence of the the eft within each illustration (except for the final full-bleed to close the book).  In an entertaining Where's Waldo-like adventure, I found myself searching for the eft as I moved along the story, and was incredibly excited to read the poem that featured the "wandering eft" itself.  As mentioned earlier, the final full-bleed illustration is the only page missing the eft, which I think demonstrates the end of night and the camouflaged status of all the animals, except the owl, at dawn.  Additionally, by zooming out with respect to the perspective presented to readers, the reader grows distant from the night setting as day comes.

             I am not well-versed in poetry, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  I think the text aligns beautifully with the illustrations to create a book that would make a great addition to any elementary units on nocturnal animals and habitats, or even just as a way to expose students to quality poetry in the classroom.  I also loved that this book exposes children to various forms of poetry and remains interesting through all of the different perspectives presented, and think it would be great to share aloud to students!