Echo Echo by Marilyn Singer

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Singer, Marilyn, and Josee Masse. Echo Echo. New York: Penguin Young Readers Group, 2016. ISB 978-0-8037-3992-5


2. PLOT SUMMARY

The poetry contains the stories of different Greek myths like Perseus and Medusa, Pandora's Box, Pygmalion, King Midus, Icarus and Daedalus, Echo and Narcissus, and the Demeter and Persephone.
Each poem has each side of the story with two different point of view.


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The fascinating thing about the "reverso" poems is how the poems alter when you change the orientation. The words are flipped on the opposite page. Where one poem ends, the exact same line is how the poem on the next page begins. There are are a few words that rhyme, but overall it is free verse. The Greek mythology is a subject that helps capture the imagination of children and adults alike. The colorful illustrations also have dual sides to them. Masse uses different colors to show to opposing sides of the same myth. The poems read like music when you read them aloud. It is impressive how the emotions can be so different when the words are the exact same. Singer is able to capture so much in the short poems. The symmetric compositions are very intricate and heart warming.


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

From Kirkus Review: "A visual and interpretive feast bringing timeless tales to a young audience."

Maria Russo from The New York Times: "Marilyn Singer's ingenious "reverso" poems are child-friendly feats of verbal pyrotechnics."

From School Library Journal: "A witty, seductive pairing of poetic imagination and artistic vision."

From Publisher's Weekly: "Another inventive exploration of stories readers thought they knew."

From Booklist: "A wonderful addition to poetry collections and accompaniment for the myths."

From The Boston Globe: " The perfect supplement of introduction to Pandora, King Midas, Icarus, and the rest of the bunch of fantastically flawed gods, monsters, mortals... easy and rewarding to read."

From The Wall Street Journal: "Delightful...vivid, glowing."


5. CONNECTIONS

Other Books by Marilyn Singer:
Feel the Beat IBN 9780803740211
Follow Follow IBN 090803737696
Mirror Mirror IBN 978-0-525-47901-7

Other Books Illustrated by Josee Masse:
The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Younger Girls by Valorie Schaefer IBN 9781451788846
Motherbridge of Love by Xinran IBN 9781846860478

Lesson Plans:
This is a PDF file from Penguin Classroom that contains a two week lesson over the three reverso poems by Marilyn Singer and Josee Masse. See it here: An Educator's Guide to Marilyn Singer's Reverso Poetry

With the book, use 'accountable talk' to echo ideas, ask questions, agree, disagree, and add-on respectfully. Check it out: Lesson Plan