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Reverso Poems
Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths
A new book of unique reversible poems based on Greek myths from the creator of Mirror Mirror
What happens when you hold up a mirror to poems about Greek myths? You get a brand-new perspective on the classics! And that is just what happens in Echo Echo, the newest collection of reverso poems from Marilyn Singer. Read one way, each poem tells the story of a familiar myth; but when read in reverse, the poems reveal a new point of view! Readers will delight in uncovering the dual points of view in well-known legends, including the stories of Pandora’s box, King Midas and his golden touch, Perseus and Medusa, Pygmalion, Icarus and Daedalus, Demeter and Persephone, and Echo and Narcissus.
These cunning verses combine with beautiful illustrations to create a collection of fourteen reverso poems to treasure.
What happens when you hold up a mirror to poems about Greek myths? You get a brand-new perspective on the classics! And that is just what happens in Echo Echo, the newest collection of reverso poems from Marilyn Singer. Read one way, each poem tells the story of a familiar myth; but when read in reverse, the poems reveal a new point of view! Readers will delight in uncovering the dual points of view in well-known legends, including the stories of Pandora’s box, King Midas and his golden touch, Perseus and Medusa, Pygmalion, Icarus and Daedalus, Demeter and Persephone, and Echo and Narcissus.
These cunning verses combine with beautiful illustrations to create a collection of fourteen reverso poems to treasure.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 16, 2016
13 people are currently reading
640 people want to read
About the author
Marilyn Singer
167 books100 followersMarilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.
In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.
Since then, Marilyn has published over seventy books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored. She has won several Children's Choice and Parents' Choice Awards, as well as the following: the Creature Carnival, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2005; I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, New York Public Library's "Best Books for the Teen Age," 2001; Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2000 (YALSA); On the Same Day in March, Booklist's Top Ten Science Books of 2000; NCSS-CBC Notable Book, 2000; Deal with a Ghost, finalist, YA category, Edgar Award, 1998; It Can't Hurt Forever, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 1983; The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1983; Turtle in July, NCTE Notable, N.Y.Times Best Illustrated and Time Magazine Best Children's Books of 1989; Turtle in July was also a Reading Rainbow review book.
Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, a cousin of their beloved and recently departed poodle Easy, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, meditation, playing computer adventure games and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.
In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.
Since then, Marilyn has published over seventy books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored. She has won several Children's Choice and Parents' Choice Awards, as well as the following: the Creature Carnival, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2005; I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, New York Public Library's "Best Books for the Teen Age," 2001; Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2000 (YALSA); On the Same Day in March, Booklist's Top Ten Science Books of 2000; NCSS-CBC Notable Book, 2000; Deal with a Ghost, finalist, YA category, Edgar Award, 1998; It Can't Hurt Forever, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 1983; The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1983; Turtle in July, NCTE Notable, N.Y.Times Best Illustrated and Time Magazine Best Children's Books of 1989; Turtle in July was also a Reading Rainbow review book.
Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, a cousin of their beloved and recently departed poodle Easy, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, meditation, playing computer adventure games and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 210 reviews
September 10, 2020
Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths - Marilyn Singer, Josee Masse While I’m not a big contemporary poetry reader for adults, I enjoy it enormously in kid’s books. For adults, I pretty much lost interest after Elliot, except for light verse and/or song lyrics. Natasha has much of Hamilton memorized, a worthwhile feat, because that is a work of genius, and the wordplay is endlessly delightful. And this is more in the vein of clever wordplay than most anything else I can think of. The form was created by the practitioner: a poem is written which, when read top to bottom means one thing, and when read bottom to top means something different. It’s an impressive skill to do at all, let along well. And these are well done indeed. And also, the art is lovely.
On yet another tangent, I wonder how many languages this form would work in. English has common patterns of sentence structure, but is loose enough to make Yoda comprehensible, albeit, somewhat “foreign” to the ear. Latin will not stand for any of that moving things about, making it impossible to do the reverse. I’m too ignorant of other language structures to know which is more common.
Also, the art is really appealing.
Library copy
On yet another tangent, I wonder how many languages this form would work in. English has common patterns of sentence structure, but is loose enough to make Yoda comprehensible, albeit, somewhat “foreign” to the ear. Latin will not stand for any of that moving things about, making it impossible to do the reverse. I’m too ignorant of other language structures to know which is more common.
Also, the art is really appealing.
Library copy
March 3, 2016
This is my first Marilyn Singer reverso book and WOW am I impressed. I can't imagine the kind of work that went into creating these poems.
June 26, 2016
This book is beautiful and amazing. The artwork is gorgeous and the poetry is just absolute GENIUS. This was teased in a Book Buzz session at ALA MidWinter last year and I had been dying to get my hands on it since then. I didn't realize there were two other books before this one. I must have them. I will have them.
A good beginner's intro to Greek mythology for children. The colors are bright, the poetry deceptively simple and there is a little explanation of background of the myth for each poem. So beautiful. Five stars. Recommended for all!
A good beginner's intro to Greek mythology for children. The colors are bright, the poetry deceptively simple and there is a little explanation of background of the myth for each poem. So beautiful. Five stars. Recommended for all!
March 5, 2020
Following up on her two previous collections of "Reverso" poetry,
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse
and
Follow Follow a Book of Reverso Poems
, author Marilyn Singer here delivers a third exploration of the form, retelling some of the classical myths of ancient Greece from differing perspectives. Read one way, the lines in these poems tell one story, but read in the opposite direction, they give another version of the tale. Theseus and Ariadne, Melanion and Atalanta, King Midas and his daughter, each one gives their version of their story, before their counterpart's take is revealed when ones reads in reverse.
As with its two predecessors, I found the poems in Echo Echo clever and creative, but also sometimes a little unsatisfactory, in their own right. I like the idea, both of the form itself, and of retelling famous stories in that form, but sometimes the actual poems fail to impress. That said, as someone with an interest in classical mythology, I did find them enjoyable as a storytelling vehicle, and thought that the accompanying artwork by Josée Masse, who also provided the illustrations for Mirror Mirror and Follow Follow , was colorful and engaging, building on the duality of the text in interesting ways. Recommended to anyone who enjoyed Singer and Masse's previous forays together, as well as to young readers looking for something a little different, in the way of retellings of Greek myths.
As with its two predecessors, I found the poems in Echo Echo clever and creative, but also sometimes a little unsatisfactory, in their own right. I like the idea, both of the form itself, and of retelling famous stories in that form, but sometimes the actual poems fail to impress. That said, as someone with an interest in classical mythology, I did find them enjoyable as a storytelling vehicle, and thought that the accompanying artwork by Josée Masse, who also provided the illustrations for Mirror Mirror and Follow Follow , was colorful and engaging, building on the duality of the text in interesting ways. Recommended to anyone who enjoyed Singer and Masse's previous forays together, as well as to young readers looking for something a little different, in the way of retellings of Greek myths.
June 15, 2018
This is a really fun and interesting poetry book on Greek Mythology. The traditional myths, such as King Midas and the Golden Touch, Pandora's Box, etc. that we are all familiar with are written in poetic form. The interesting thing about this is that each myth has two poems. The first poem when read from top to bottom is the traditional myth. The second poem is written in reverse (bottom to top)and gives a completely different point of view of the myth. The pictures that go along with the poem also show the different points of view. I teach fourth grade and we do a unit on Greek Mythology. This book would be fun to use during that unit to read and learn about the myths and discuss different points of view. I was hesitant on reading the book at first but I am glad that I checked this one out!
April 30, 2016
Lovers of Greek Mythology will enjoy sharing these poems and vivid illustrations with young readers
August 9, 2019
Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths is a children's picture book of poems written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Josée Masse, which is an anthology of reverso poems, which are poems that could be read forward and backward, about Greek myths.
Singers's poetry is rather simplistic, but ingeniously written. Singer uses "reverso" poems, a form of her creation, to show that there are two sides to every fairy tale. On each page, two poems appear, one an inversion of the other with minor changes in punctuation. Masse's illustrations cleverly represent each reverso poem with an illustration likewise.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It is an anthology of reverso poems with accompany illustrations about the duality of Greek myths. Some myths represented are: Pandora's and her Box, Arachne and Athena, King Midas, Perseus and Medusa, Bellerophon and Pegasus, Narcissus and Echo, Pygmalion and Galatea, Theseus and Ariadne, Icarus and Daedalus, Melanion and Atalanta, Demeter and Persephone, and Eurydice and Orpheus. The poems are carefully crafted so that one could read each line of the poems forward and backward and creates a single poem being told in two perspectives for each respective myth.
All in all, Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths is a wonderful collection of reversible verse and poems that are written about popular Greek myths with wonderful duality art that accompany each pair of poems.
Singers's poetry is rather simplistic, but ingeniously written. Singer uses "reverso" poems, a form of her creation, to show that there are two sides to every fairy tale. On each page, two poems appear, one an inversion of the other with minor changes in punctuation. Masse's illustrations cleverly represent each reverso poem with an illustration likewise.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It is an anthology of reverso poems with accompany illustrations about the duality of Greek myths. Some myths represented are: Pandora's and her Box, Arachne and Athena, King Midas, Perseus and Medusa, Bellerophon and Pegasus, Narcissus and Echo, Pygmalion and Galatea, Theseus and Ariadne, Icarus and Daedalus, Melanion and Atalanta, Demeter and Persephone, and Eurydice and Orpheus. The poems are carefully crafted so that one could read each line of the poems forward and backward and creates a single poem being told in two perspectives for each respective myth.
All in all, Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths is a wonderful collection of reversible verse and poems that are written about popular Greek myths with wonderful duality art that accompany each pair of poems.
November 2, 2017
Marilyn Singer invented the poetic form called the reverso, and this book as well as her other two, Follow Follow and Mirror Mirror, leaves me full of awe and admiration for her because of how difficult and challenging these poems must be to write. The theme of this book is Greek mythology. Each poem deals with a different Greek myth, told in two poems, either from the point of view of two characters or from two points of view from the same character. The illustrations for each myth are also divided into two parts, reflecting and echoing the two poems. My favorite is "Narcissus and Echo." These poems are so unique and well done that I urge all poetry lovers young and old to read this and her other two books of reversos.
June 8, 2022
Best of the Reverso series of poems by Singer. I found it to be more sophisticated and clever than the other two. The Greek mythology worked so well for this, and it was truly impressive how she could get some of the switching POVs to be so perfect - like King Midas and his daughter, or Daedalus
and Icarus.
and Icarus.
December 12, 2023
Fun and clever!
March 1, 2020
In Marilyn Singer’s third collection of reverso poems, Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths, her ingenuity is brilliantly displayed through the presentation of classic Greek myths. When each poem is read from top to bottom, the timeless tales of gods, mortals, heroes, and monsters unfold in beautiful verse. However, what sets this collection apart is that Singer uses reverso poems to remind us there are always two sides to every story. When each poem is read in reverse an entirely new point of view is presented using the same set of words! For example, readers can learn the story of King Midas and his daughter from both the perspectives of the father and child with just a flip of the poem. Each one of these tales in her collection of Greek myths requires careful calculations and precise word choices to execute the reverso style successfully. However, Singer is able to make her readers feel that this is pulled off effortlessly. Coupled with the beautiful illustrations in Mediterranean blues and golds, this is a brilliant representation of the power of poetry to bring new life to classic tales.
September 27, 2017
I loved this book. I have long loved Greek mythology, and this book was a fun way to revisit some of the myths. I found it to be thoughtful, and beautifully written, and the illustrations were perfect companions to the poems. The author choose each word and line carefully to make these dual perspectives come to life. It's amazing how just a few slight punctuation changes, or line breaks can completely change the meaning of a poem!
October 8, 2016
First sentence: Ancient Greece: an age of marvelous myths, gone, but not forgotten. Heroes that rise and fall.
Premise/plot: This is the third collection of reverso poems by Marilyn Singer. The first two were: Mirror, Mirror and Follow, Follow. Both of those were fairy tale inspired poetry collections. This third book is inspired by Greek mythology.
So what is a reverso poem? A poem that is both read top to bottom, and bottom to top. The two 'versions' of the poem might tell completely different stories! Word order and punctuation can accomplish a LOT. Much more than I ever thought about!!! Most of the reverso poems in this collection have two narrators. For example, with "King Midas and His Daughter," the first poem is from the daughter's perspective (top to bottom), and the second poem (bottom to top) is from the King's perspective.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. I'm not sure I loved, loved, loved it as much as the previous volumes. But. It's been a few years since I've read them, and, I'd have to reread all three closer together to truly decide which is my favorite. I can tell you that I do like Greek mythology. (Thanks in small part to Edith Hamilton and good old Percy Jackson.)
I think my favorite poem might be "Pygmalion and Galatea."
*The book does have at least one typo. And I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't chosen to share it. I would have just auto-corrected in my head without thinking twice. "There is nothing is this world." I include it here just in case it hasn't been caught yet and fixed already for future editions.
Premise/plot: This is the third collection of reverso poems by Marilyn Singer. The first two were: Mirror, Mirror and Follow, Follow. Both of those were fairy tale inspired poetry collections. This third book is inspired by Greek mythology.
So what is a reverso poem? A poem that is both read top to bottom, and bottom to top. The two 'versions' of the poem might tell completely different stories! Word order and punctuation can accomplish a LOT. Much more than I ever thought about!!! Most of the reverso poems in this collection have two narrators. For example, with "King Midas and His Daughter," the first poem is from the daughter's perspective (top to bottom), and the second poem (bottom to top) is from the King's perspective.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. I'm not sure I loved, loved, loved it as much as the previous volumes. But. It's been a few years since I've read them, and, I'd have to reread all three closer together to truly decide which is my favorite. I can tell you that I do like Greek mythology. (Thanks in small part to Edith Hamilton and good old Percy Jackson.)
I think my favorite poem might be "Pygmalion and Galatea."
Wondrous!/ How/ life-/ like! There is nothing in this world/ so perfect. Oh, these lips, hands, eyes!/ The artist/ is in love with/ his creation./ Let a heartfelt wish be granted,/ kind Venus:/ Only you could make this stone breathe!
Only you could make this stone breathe!/ Kind Venus/ let a heartfelt wish be granted./ His creation/ is in love with/ the artist./ Oh, these lips, hands, eyes--/ so perfect!/ There is nothing in this world/ like/ life! How/ wondrous!
*The book does have at least one typo. And I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't chosen to share it. I would have just auto-corrected in my head without thinking twice. "There is nothing is this world." I include it here just in case it hasn't been caught yet and fixed already for future editions.
March 15, 2016
Echo & Echo is perfect for fans of mythology. However, these mythology stories are not written in the normal fashion. They are written in poetry form - reversos in fact.
What is a reverso? It is actually a poem that reads differently depending on how you read it. You read it one way, and then you flip it over and read it in reverse and it tells the story in a different way! It is really quite creative and very interesting!
That being said, each mythology covered in this book is told in two stories. Sometimes the poems are from the same character, other times they are told from differing characters.
This is not necessarily a book I would use for storytime. However, I would possibly consider it as reading before bed. It is a longer book, but easy to find a place to stop in. So you could potentially read a couple poems a night and everyone would end up happy.
Or if you have an older child that is not quite ready for chapter books, but likes to read and likes mythology - they would enjoy reading this one. There are ample enough words on the pages that they wont feel like they are reading a "book for babies."
Also, the artwork is gorgeous!
This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Find more of my reviews here:
http://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/
What is a reverso? It is actually a poem that reads differently depending on how you read it. You read it one way, and then you flip it over and read it in reverse and it tells the story in a different way! It is really quite creative and very interesting!
That being said, each mythology covered in this book is told in two stories. Sometimes the poems are from the same character, other times they are told from differing characters.
This is not necessarily a book I would use for storytime. However, I would possibly consider it as reading before bed. It is a longer book, but easy to find a place to stop in. So you could potentially read a couple poems a night and everyone would end up happy.
Or if you have an older child that is not quite ready for chapter books, but likes to read and likes mythology - they would enjoy reading this one. There are ample enough words on the pages that they wont feel like they are reading a "book for babies."
Also, the artwork is gorgeous!
This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Find more of my reviews here:
http://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/
June 28, 2016
Marilyn Singer invented the style of poem called a reverso. A reverso is a poem that can be read from top to bottom and then reversed bottom to top to say something different.
This book focuses on different characters' points of view to tell their myth. For example, for "Demeter and Persephone", the first poem is sad from Demeter's point of view losing her daughter. The second poem (read from bottom to top) is from Persephone's point of view, hopeful as winter turns to spring.
The myths included in this book are as follows:
Pandora and the Box
Arachne and Athena
King Midas and his daughter
Perseus and Medusa
Bellerophon and Pegasus
Narcissus and Echo
Pygmalion and Galatea
Theseus and Ariadne (with the Minotaur)
Icarus and Daedalus
Melanion and Atalanta
Demeter and Persephone
Eurydice and Orpheus
This book focuses on different characters' points of view to tell their myth. For example, for "Demeter and Persephone", the first poem is sad from Demeter's point of view losing her daughter. The second poem (read from bottom to top) is from Persephone's point of view, hopeful as winter turns to spring.
The myths included in this book are as follows:
Pandora and the Box
Arachne and Athena
King Midas and his daughter
Perseus and Medusa
Bellerophon and Pegasus
Narcissus and Echo
Pygmalion and Galatea
Theseus and Ariadne (with the Minotaur)
Icarus and Daedalus
Melanion and Atalanta
Demeter and Persephone
Eurydice and Orpheus
April 28, 2016
This is the third picture book of reverso poetry by Marilyn Singer. Reverso poems can be read from top to bottom or bottom to top with minimum changes in punctuation. Although the meaning may shift in point of view or intent, the context of the storyline remains the same. It is fun, ingenious, and young readers love them. Singer’s first two collections focused on classic fairy tales. This new collection focuses on Greek mythology and requires a general understanding of the classic myths to fully appreciate the context of the poems. A must-read picture book for readers who enjoy the Greek myths.
March 24, 2016
Echo Echo is a perfect way to share the classic Greek Myths with children. The poems are engaging and fun to read. While, the illustrations are whimsical with colors that are rich and saturated. Truthfully, the combination of the text and images on a double page spread only enhances the experience.
If you are looking for a unique book to share with the little ones, this is definitely worth looking into. And who knows, maybe you will learn more about the Myths that shaped so many actions and stories throughout history.
April 24, 2016
Charming and inspiring book of poetry drawn from themes in Greek mythology, where poems are written (and read) forward and backward, changing the meaning entirely and providing a wonderful opportunity for fun and gentle discussion. A great book to read one spread a day as a jumping off point for further family conversations.
March 14, 2016
I love this book just as much as Marilyn Singer's first two collections of reverso poems. The illustrations are stunning and I admire the work that went into creating the poems. They are perfect for teaching students about perspective and the power of punctuation!
August 4, 2016
Clever! Beautiful. And just plain fascinating. Basically the poem is written, and then read in reverse is another poem. Look forward to seeing her other books. My 10 year old daughter and I really marveled at every page.
August 17, 2016
3.9 stars
Wow. Reverso poems. So creative. And it seems like it would be so difficult to write them! The poems are all about Greek mythology. At the bottom of each poem and its reverso is a brief description of each god/goddess and his/her backstory.
January 25, 2016
Gorgeously illustrated, Singer's reversos are a bit demanding and subtle here. Readers with knowledge of the myths will fare better; but there are notes below each myth.
March 5, 2016
Love! Gorgeous illustrations and artfully written poems. There are short blurbs included explaining the myths, which will be a plus for young readers unfamiliar with the stories.
November 30, 2020
Very original and educational.
December 4, 2020
I found this book in our CBCH textbook in the recommended texts from the poetry chapter under “Bending Genres: Factual Poems Sharing Disciplinary Knowledge.” I was able to read the story on Sora. This is an app our students use to access ebooks and audiobooks. The quality is stunning and it is easy to maneuver and “flip” the pages. I can access it due to my connections with Cambridge Public Schools, but many other schools around the country have access as well. This particular book was offered as both an ebook and an audiobook, so I had the chance of listening to it read by two voices (including the author’s voice) while following along in the ebook. This greatly enhanced my experience with the text because the audio expressed the intended intonation and punctuation. The flow of the poems are challenging to read at times (understandably so).
Reverso poems are a poetic form of this author’s own invention in which a poem can be read line by line top to bottom then be reversed and read line by line bottom to top and it will express two different meanings. It is unlike anything I have seen before, and very fun to read. This particular collection of reverso poems are all inspired by Greek myths. After each poem is read both ways, there is a small text blurb explaining the particular myth the poem was inspired by. Some of the myths included are Pandora’s box, King Midas and his daughter, Perseus and Medusa, Narcissus and Echo, and many more. The poems are organized in a way that flows like a linear story starting with the creation of humans and ending in the Underworld. Each reverso poem is written in both forms and placed side by side on their own page accompanied by an expressive and color filled illustration that is also somehow mirroring itself. Each illustration is able to uniquely complement the poem in that it is able to show two meanings in the same way the poem can show two perspectives. At the conclusion of the 14, or rather 28, poems, the author writes a note giving a brief history on the purposes, influences, and lessons of Greek myths. She also offers readers additional resources for continuation of study into Greek mythology.
In order for the reverso to work, many of the lines are one or two words, which are read backwards when reversed. The multiple one word lines breaks the flow of the poem pretty greatly, which is why I found it so helpful to listen to it read with the flow intended by the author. The only thing that changes in the reversal is punctuation and capitalization, which I actually really enjoyed because it brought so much attention to the importance and value of those two grammatical tools. I enjoyed analyzing how they changed the meaning of a single short line and the poem as a whole. Being about Greek mythology, there is no diversity of characters in race, ability, sexuality, or size. The stories remain as problematic as Greek myths are, even referencing a man cheating himself into winning a woman’s marriage (a woman who explicitly didn’t want to be a bride). All the characters share a skin color ranging from beige to light bronze, which is regardless authentically expected for this particular theme.
I would recommend this book to be read to students from grades 2 and up. In my experience, this is typically when students take a deeper dive into poetry anyway. The complex quality of reading a reverso for the first time encourages me to advise this book be used as first a read aloud before given to students for browsing. The poems are much clearer when one knows the context of the myth as well, which can be read and explained in discussion. I think students would really enjoy the unique nature of a reverso poem. It’s fun to analyze and puzzle out. They are incredibly clever as well. A teacher could use this book to study poetry, punctuation and capitalization, and even greek mythology. I’d definitely encourage students to try out writing their own reversos too!
Reverso poems are a poetic form of this author’s own invention in which a poem can be read line by line top to bottom then be reversed and read line by line bottom to top and it will express two different meanings. It is unlike anything I have seen before, and very fun to read. This particular collection of reverso poems are all inspired by Greek myths. After each poem is read both ways, there is a small text blurb explaining the particular myth the poem was inspired by. Some of the myths included are Pandora’s box, King Midas and his daughter, Perseus and Medusa, Narcissus and Echo, and many more. The poems are organized in a way that flows like a linear story starting with the creation of humans and ending in the Underworld. Each reverso poem is written in both forms and placed side by side on their own page accompanied by an expressive and color filled illustration that is also somehow mirroring itself. Each illustration is able to uniquely complement the poem in that it is able to show two meanings in the same way the poem can show two perspectives. At the conclusion of the 14, or rather 28, poems, the author writes a note giving a brief history on the purposes, influences, and lessons of Greek myths. She also offers readers additional resources for continuation of study into Greek mythology.
In order for the reverso to work, many of the lines are one or two words, which are read backwards when reversed. The multiple one word lines breaks the flow of the poem pretty greatly, which is why I found it so helpful to listen to it read with the flow intended by the author. The only thing that changes in the reversal is punctuation and capitalization, which I actually really enjoyed because it brought so much attention to the importance and value of those two grammatical tools. I enjoyed analyzing how they changed the meaning of a single short line and the poem as a whole. Being about Greek mythology, there is no diversity of characters in race, ability, sexuality, or size. The stories remain as problematic as Greek myths are, even referencing a man cheating himself into winning a woman’s marriage (a woman who explicitly didn’t want to be a bride). All the characters share a skin color ranging from beige to light bronze, which is regardless authentically expected for this particular theme.
I would recommend this book to be read to students from grades 2 and up. In my experience, this is typically when students take a deeper dive into poetry anyway. The complex quality of reading a reverso for the first time encourages me to advise this book be used as first a read aloud before given to students for browsing. The poems are much clearer when one knows the context of the myth as well, which can be read and explained in discussion. I think students would really enjoy the unique nature of a reverso poem. It’s fun to analyze and puzzle out. They are incredibly clever as well. A teacher could use this book to study poetry, punctuation and capitalization, and even greek mythology. I’d definitely encourage students to try out writing their own reversos too!
October 5, 2020
Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths is a Children’s picture book in Poetry genre. This book is a collection of Reverso poems on classic Greek Mythology stories authored by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Josée Masse. Marilyn Singer is an award-winning American author who has publishes many Children’s and young adults’ books. She is the winner of 2015 NCTE Award for excellence in poetry. She had written a variety of Poetry books, picture, and Non-fiction books for children. This book is her third book of Reverso Poems. It has won NCTE Notable Book, NYPL Best Books of the Year and SLJ Best Book of the Year awards. Her book Mirror-Mirror was the first award winning popular Reverso Poems Book.
The idea of Greek Mythology in Reverso poem form lured me to pick this one over the original Mirror Mirror or Follow Follow. Echo Echo gives a dual perspective and reveals an all new view of the classic well-known legends of Greek Mythology. You read the poem in one way; it tells you the story of a famous Greek myth. But when read in reverse, the poem gives a whole new view of the same story. Its fascinating read to uncover the dual points of view of well-known stories.
The Cover picture gives an enticing glimpse of the different perspective of story telling in this book. Illustrations are beautiful and all the fourteen poem illustrations are vivid, descriptive and takes you right to the Greek gods, goddesses, gardens, and palaces!
I like how each poem tells the story of one well known Greek myth in two views. Each poem has a snippet at the bottom of the page that gives a brief information about the Greek myth the poem narrates. The poems are wonderfully worded, and the illustrations accompanies and flows with the poem. The colors and artistry in the illustrations compliments well and ties beautifully with the author’s poetry. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Bellerophon with Pegasus, Narcissus and Echo, Pygmalion and Galatea. The poetry flows. Simple verses, beautiful illustrations were an absolute delight. It is a perfect book for someone who enjoy reading poetry and love Greek Mythology. Kids, adults alike will appreciate the dual voice in each storytelling that is equally intriguing and fascinating.
I would recommend this book for elementary school classrooms. This book can be a mentor text for poetry, Greek mythology, Art, and creative writing. I can see myself using this for First Grade classrooms during Language Arts lessons. This book will be great to introduce different forms of poetry. If we read Greek Mythology stories and then analyze this book, students can appreciate and learn the art of creative writing. This book teaches them how a Reverso poem is constructed. It teaches students to look at a literature piece in different perspectives and analyze. It is an excellent piece of work to teach children how they can create unique, original narratives for well known stories. They can learn analyzing the art, how to write narratives and simple poems.
A remarkable collection and amazing poetry by Marilyn Singer. I enjoyed every poem, the dual viewpoint and excellent illustrations that complimented the poetry. Now, I am ready to pick and read the original fairy tales’ collection! Highly recommended.
The idea of Greek Mythology in Reverso poem form lured me to pick this one over the original Mirror Mirror or Follow Follow. Echo Echo gives a dual perspective and reveals an all new view of the classic well-known legends of Greek Mythology. You read the poem in one way; it tells you the story of a famous Greek myth. But when read in reverse, the poem gives a whole new view of the same story. Its fascinating read to uncover the dual points of view of well-known stories.
The Cover picture gives an enticing glimpse of the different perspective of story telling in this book. Illustrations are beautiful and all the fourteen poem illustrations are vivid, descriptive and takes you right to the Greek gods, goddesses, gardens, and palaces!
I like how each poem tells the story of one well known Greek myth in two views. Each poem has a snippet at the bottom of the page that gives a brief information about the Greek myth the poem narrates. The poems are wonderfully worded, and the illustrations accompanies and flows with the poem. The colors and artistry in the illustrations compliments well and ties beautifully with the author’s poetry. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Bellerophon with Pegasus, Narcissus and Echo, Pygmalion and Galatea. The poetry flows. Simple verses, beautiful illustrations were an absolute delight. It is a perfect book for someone who enjoy reading poetry and love Greek Mythology. Kids, adults alike will appreciate the dual voice in each storytelling that is equally intriguing and fascinating.
I would recommend this book for elementary school classrooms. This book can be a mentor text for poetry, Greek mythology, Art, and creative writing. I can see myself using this for First Grade classrooms during Language Arts lessons. This book will be great to introduce different forms of poetry. If we read Greek Mythology stories and then analyze this book, students can appreciate and learn the art of creative writing. This book teaches them how a Reverso poem is constructed. It teaches students to look at a literature piece in different perspectives and analyze. It is an excellent piece of work to teach children how they can create unique, original narratives for well known stories. They can learn analyzing the art, how to write narratives and simple poems.
A remarkable collection and amazing poetry by Marilyn Singer. I enjoyed every poem, the dual viewpoint and excellent illustrations that complimented the poetry. Now, I am ready to pick and read the original fairy tales’ collection! Highly recommended.
March 1, 2018
Traditional literature, illustrations, and challenging poetic forms create a unique reading experience in Marilyn Singer’s Echo Echo. This topical collection of poetry centers on poetic retellings of traditional Greek myths, but the form of the poems takes center stage. Singer proves herself adept at creating meaningful reverso poems that contain narrative as well as figurative language.
Many readers are no stranger to the Greek gods and goddesses that compose the traditional literature of Ancient Greece. Singer presents tales such as the story of Pandora and the box, King Midas’ golden touch, Perseus’ defeat of Medusa, and Icarus and Daedalus’ doomed flight. Each retelling is accompanied by a brief explanation, in prose, that gives information about the heroic and god-like characters for readers who are unfamiliar. These explanations are concise but helpful to those who encounter the less familiar myths like “Bellerophon with Pegasus.”
The reverso poems are a brilliant choice of medium for these retellings. Each page is divided in half with the first poem on the left and the “mirror” or “reversed” poem on the right. The second poem is exactly like the first, but the lines are rearranged from bottom to top and changes to punctuation and capitalization are allowed. This allows for multiple perspectives from the myth to be shared with the reader. “King Midas and His Daughter”, for example, is especially moving as the first poem tells of the conflict between Midas’ fatherly love and lust for gold while the reversed poem is the voice of the daughter, longing for her father’s affection. The poems frequently use unique language and beautiful descriptions. For instance, the description of Daedalus’ flight is especially impactful: “Bright heaven waits above,/ dark sea is below.”
This collection would be best appreciated a poem or two at a time as the poems are quite long and must be read slowly in order to appreciate the reversed affects and different perspectives for each myth. The illustrations do help to maintain the interest of the reader with deep blue and rich gold contrasting tones to showcase the mirror effect of each duo of poems. The acrylic illustrations are a brilliant companion for the poems. A rushed reading will not do this book justice. Older readers may be able to devote more attention to the beauty of all elements of this poetry collection.
Many readers are no stranger to the Greek gods and goddesses that compose the traditional literature of Ancient Greece. Singer presents tales such as the story of Pandora and the box, King Midas’ golden touch, Perseus’ defeat of Medusa, and Icarus and Daedalus’ doomed flight. Each retelling is accompanied by a brief explanation, in prose, that gives information about the heroic and god-like characters for readers who are unfamiliar. These explanations are concise but helpful to those who encounter the less familiar myths like “Bellerophon with Pegasus.”
The reverso poems are a brilliant choice of medium for these retellings. Each page is divided in half with the first poem on the left and the “mirror” or “reversed” poem on the right. The second poem is exactly like the first, but the lines are rearranged from bottom to top and changes to punctuation and capitalization are allowed. This allows for multiple perspectives from the myth to be shared with the reader. “King Midas and His Daughter”, for example, is especially moving as the first poem tells of the conflict between Midas’ fatherly love and lust for gold while the reversed poem is the voice of the daughter, longing for her father’s affection. The poems frequently use unique language and beautiful descriptions. For instance, the description of Daedalus’ flight is especially impactful: “Bright heaven waits above,/ dark sea is below.”
This collection would be best appreciated a poem or two at a time as the poems are quite long and must be read slowly in order to appreciate the reversed affects and different perspectives for each myth. The illustrations do help to maintain the interest of the reader with deep blue and rich gold contrasting tones to showcase the mirror effect of each duo of poems. The acrylic illustrations are a brilliant companion for the poems. A rushed reading will not do this book justice. Older readers may be able to devote more attention to the beauty of all elements of this poetry collection.
April 26, 2021
I wasn’t introduced to much poetry in my years in elementary school but after reading this book I definitely would want to include it and many more because you can do so much with each individual poem! “Echo Echo, Reverso Poems About Greek Myths” by Marilyn Singer is classified as poetry and geared towards 3rd and 4th graders. This book introduces many different Greek mythology characters and the stories that have been told for years but Singer does a great job of putting a new perspective on these classics. There are a plethora of poems in here, the list goes on but a few of my favorite that is notable are Pandora and The Box, Arachne and Athena, and Theseus and Ariadne. These verses are combined with beautiful illustrations that are symbolic of the reverse poem theme; it all correlates really well. What made this a wow book was simply its poetry form that tells 2 different sides to a story. It allows for dual points of view in the reverso poem style. In reverso, the second half reverses the lines from the first half, with changes in only punctuation and capitalization. When read in reverse the poems reveal a new point of view and I have never seen that until this book and it definitely left me wondering how many more books were similar?! Two ideas that I could use to implement this into my future classroom would be character comparison activities and teaching poetry forms. As I explained before, these poems are written in reverso and the illustrations include two characters that are explained in the poem. I want my students to pick one of the poems they enjoyed the most and create a “character comparison sheet”. This can be done digitally, physically, or verbally. I want my students to read through the poem, infer from the images, and compare and contrast the two different points of view in a way that makes sense to them. I think this could deepen their understanding of the poetry style, Greek mythology and even allow me and their classmates to take a deeper look into their minds on how they interpreted the characters. Another idea would be to study poetic forms; this could be used for both classic and contemporary styles. I would have my students develop a list of poetic forms they learn through in-class research and work on looking into the history of the poetic form, examples of it, and potentially write their own version of it. This can give them a glimpse into the realm of poetry and how it all can be so similar yet different.
February 1, 2018
Echo & Echo is a cleverly composed book of Greek poems that have been written in Singer’s unique reverse style which takes a poem which you read once from top to bottom, then she flips the poem changing only punctuation and it is read in reverse to reveal a second meaning to it. This is a very effective technique for describing Greek myths because they are often very complicated since there are human and godly perspectives at play often times.
Singer also adds at the bottom of the page with the poems a small synopsis of the myth that the poem is talking about to help clarify any aspects of the poem that may have been confusing. I was not familiar with every myth when reading this book, so I found this especially useful when reading to best comprehend the poems.
There is an introductory poem and a concluding poem at the beginning and end of the book as well which add to the readers understanding of why Singer chose to write this book. She addresses the idea that humans create myths and legends to help explain human experiences that are not always easy to understand or deal with. I really liked her exploration of this idea. In addition to this idea, there are many morals and lessons to be learned from the myths themselves which are expressed in the poems as well.
The illustrations are very fitting in this book. There was usually one page containing the poems and then the opposite page contained a full bleed image depicting a contrast of both of the stories told. Many of the images use bright blues, golds, whites, and greens which all seemed be fitting for the setting of the pictures since many of the stories had to do with nature or at least took place outside. Overall, I really liked this book and was very intrigued by the unique reverse poem style of Marilyn Singer and would recommend it for anyone middle school and above so they can gain a new perspective on classic Greek myths!
Singer also adds at the bottom of the page with the poems a small synopsis of the myth that the poem is talking about to help clarify any aspects of the poem that may have been confusing. I was not familiar with every myth when reading this book, so I found this especially useful when reading to best comprehend the poems.
There is an introductory poem and a concluding poem at the beginning and end of the book as well which add to the readers understanding of why Singer chose to write this book. She addresses the idea that humans create myths and legends to help explain human experiences that are not always easy to understand or deal with. I really liked her exploration of this idea. In addition to this idea, there are many morals and lessons to be learned from the myths themselves which are expressed in the poems as well.
The illustrations are very fitting in this book. There was usually one page containing the poems and then the opposite page contained a full bleed image depicting a contrast of both of the stories told. Many of the images use bright blues, golds, whites, and greens which all seemed be fitting for the setting of the pictures since many of the stories had to do with nature or at least took place outside. Overall, I really liked this book and was very intrigued by the unique reverse poem style of Marilyn Singer and would recommend it for anyone middle school and above so they can gain a new perspective on classic Greek myths!
October 24, 2016
I checked this book out from the library, thinking my kids wouldn't really be interested and that it would be for me to read. And now my kids are obsessed with Greek mythology.
This is a good thing.
It features fourteen poems (with twelve about specific Greek myths and two about mythology in general). Each poem is accompanied by a concise version of the myth, which was useful to give the details of the stories. But what is brilliant is the form.
Each poem is a reverso poem--two poems in one, whose lines contain the exact same words as each other.
So the first poem would be:
A
B
C
D
E
F
And then the second poem would be:
F
E
D
C
B
A
An example, from the cover of the book, uses the form:
A
B
C
D
and then
D
C
B
A
As follows:
Stories
of
a magical world
created long ago.
And then the reverso:
Created long ago,
a magical world
of
stories.
This is one of those forms that has the potential to be super gimmicky--a fun challenge to write, but likely to produce rather poor poetry.
But Marilyn Singer is a master of the form, and writes powerful poems with incredible restraints. The brilliant part is that most of the poem sets tell the myth from different perspectives. So, for instance, "Arachne and Athena" tells the story from the viewpoint of Arachne and then from Athena--using the same words, but capturing very different perspectives on the events.
This is a great introduction to mythology for children, and a refreshing new approach for adults.
This is a good thing.
It features fourteen poems (with twelve about specific Greek myths and two about mythology in general). Each poem is accompanied by a concise version of the myth, which was useful to give the details of the stories. But what is brilliant is the form.
Each poem is a reverso poem--two poems in one, whose lines contain the exact same words as each other.
So the first poem would be:
A
B
C
D
E
F
And then the second poem would be:
F
E
D
C
B
A
An example, from the cover of the book, uses the form:
A
B
C
D
and then
D
C
B
A
As follows:
Stories
of
a magical world
created long ago.
And then the reverso:
Created long ago,
a magical world
of
stories.
This is one of those forms that has the potential to be super gimmicky--a fun challenge to write, but likely to produce rather poor poetry.
But Marilyn Singer is a master of the form, and writes powerful poems with incredible restraints. The brilliant part is that most of the poem sets tell the myth from different perspectives. So, for instance, "Arachne and Athena" tells the story from the viewpoint of Arachne and then from Athena--using the same words, but capturing very different perspectives on the events.
This is a great introduction to mythology for children, and a refreshing new approach for adults.
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