Mirror Mirror

I love it when I find a new book!  Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer is mesmerizing!  I could not put it down. The book is composed of poems about fairy tales.  However, they are not your typical poems.  They are reversos.  A reverso is a poem you can read from the top to bottom and from the bottom to the top!  This form of poetry is great for sharing two sides of one story.  When the poem is read from top to bottom the reader learns one side of the story.  When the poem is read from the bottom to the top the reader learns another side of the story. 

The book is like nothing I have read before.  It is truly one-of-a-kind! The pictures are stunning.  This book is going to be a favorite of librarians, teachers, and children!  It has become a favorite of mine.  


In order for your child to understand the poems in this book, it is important they have a working schema (background knowledge) of fairy tales.  So, make sure you and your child have read the original version of each of the fairy tales presented in this book.

Since each of the poems share two sides of a story, this is a great time to talk about point-of-view with your child.  After reading each poem, talk with your child about who might be the narrator.  How does each story differ when told from another point-of-view?

This is such a fun book to share with your child.  You both are going to love it!  It is going to make you think a lot.  Make sure you take the time to synthesize your thinking as you read.  You can do this by just talking with your child about what you are reading.  Pay attention to the punctuation.  How does it change and how does that impact the meaning of the text?

If you and your child get really adventurous, you can try and write your own reversos!  It is more challenging than you might think!

Enjoy!