Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror
by Marilyn Singer
illustrated by Josee Masse

Dulton Children's Books, 2010






Genre:  Poetry, Fairy Tales

Awards:  ALA Notable Book, Cybil Award in Poetry, Horn Book Fanfare list, New York Public Library's Best 100 Children's Books, Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books, Betsy Bird's 100 Magnificent Children's Books, Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books, Booklist Editors' Choice list, Washington Post's Top 15 Children's Books

Review:  This compilation of fourteen famous fairy tales, such as Beauty and the Beast, The Ugly Duckling, and Little Red Riding Hood, are written in a new poetry format created by the author called 'reverso'. Each poem tells the tale that presents one point of view, and then in another column the words are reversed and gives an entirely different point of view. The colorful drawings are illustrated to correspond with the poems, split halfway like the two viewpoints of the reverso poetry.

Opinion:  I found this to be a completely fascinating picture book of poems. The author writes about popular fairy tales and adds her own poetry style, making the book appealing and intriguing. The illustrations are so masterfully and artfully done, that they truly enhance the already amazing book of poems.

Ideas:  This book of poetry would work well for reluctant poetry readers due to it's unique style and fantastic colorful pictures. Another great place for this book would be on a fairy tale display, especially because it has such a fascinating and appealing cover.