Monday, April 30, 2012

Marilyn Singer: Mirror Mirror, A Book of Reversible Verse


How did the last day of Poetry Month sneak up so fast? Quickly, before it's over, I wanted to recommend a fun book of poetry for kids: Marilyn Singer's Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse.

Each poem in this book looks at a fairy tale from two sides, flipping both the poem and the story upside down. Besides being fun, the reversed poems are perfect examples of how punctuation, line breaks, and rhythm are powerful tools that can change the meaning of a poem. The results are so surprising and fun, you'll immediately want to try writing one of your own.

The Doubtful Duckling
by Marilyn Singer
 
1. 
Someday
I'll turn into a swan.
No way
I'll stay
an ugly duckling,
stubby and gray.
Plain to see--
look at me.
A beauty I'll be.
 
2.
A beauty I'll be?
Look at me---
plain to see, 
stubby and gray.
An ugly duckling
I'll stay.
No way
I'll turn into a swan
Someday.

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