“Mirror, Mirror” is a playful take on how perspective shapes our understanding of words and stories.  Singer has created what she calls “a book of reversible verse,” in which she tells the story of a popular folk tale in verse, and then reverses the order of the lines to give another take on the story.


For example, in “Cinderella’s Double Take,” Singer has Cinderella lamenting her fate. But by reversing the lines and switching around the punctuation, we get to see Cinderella welcoming her fun at the ball. Singer’s slim volume is improved by Masse’s lovely illustrations that embody the split nature of the verses.


While I thought some of the verses were quite clever and lovely, others seemed too forced to be interesting.  I might use this book in connection with teaching about the importance of language and word order, or if I were doing a unit on folk tales.  But it really isn’t substantial or compelling enough for me to purchase it for my school library.