Echo Echo (Marilyn Singer)

Title:  Echo Echo: Reverso Poems about Greek Myths               

Author:  Marilyn Singer

Illustrator:  Josee Masse

Target Ages:  6 and up

Genre:  Poetry Collection

Publisher Summary:

There are two sides to every story—especially the Greek myths.  From Perseus and Medusa to Arachne and Athena, gods and mortals rarely see eye-to-eye.

In this third collection of ingenious reverso poems, Marilyn Singer brings classic myths to new and vivid life.  When read from topic to bottom, each poem tells a well-known story from a world of heroes and monsters.  When read in reverse, however, the very same words convey a whole new point of view!

Sample Poems (Click on Picture for a Larger View):

Evaluation:

I am a fan of the first two reverso poetry collections by Singer.  I also love ancient Greek history and mythology.  This book appealed to my many loves! 

The poems are fantastic.  The illustrations are a stunning wonder.  I love the rich golds and blues with splashes of red and green.  Each picture captures multiple perspectives. 

Echo Echo is an engaging and memorable read. 

Activities and Extension Ideas for Lesson Plans:

• Literature:  Add these poems to a study of Greek myths or use them as a springboard to read some myths. 
• Point of View:  Discuss how there can be different points of view to the same event.  Make observations about the characters—their perspectives, background, motivations, and such. 
• Grammar:  Study how punctuation (and even word placement in relation to poetry) changes the meaning of a text. 
• Poetry:  Try to write a reverso for a Greek (or other cultural) myth not already covered in the book.
• History:  Read about ancient Greece and the Greek gods for a better understanding of the context of these poems.
• Origin Stories: Distinguish the stories that give an origin of something (spiders, seasons, daffodil flowers, evil in the world).  Teach about how the Greeks and other ancient people made up stories to understand what was incompressible at the time.  
• Writing:  Write (or draw a picture and tell orally) an origin story for something in nature or happens naturally.
• Visual Texts:  Study the illustrations.  Evaluate how they convey the different perspectives.
• Connections: With such so many concise mythological retellings, it would be easy to look for connections and patterns. For instance, identify common motifs like pride, heroism, family, love, courage, and so forth.  Group character types--heroes and villains, gods and mortals--and character qualities--prideful, competitive, brave, sacrificial, selfish,and such.

Literary Connections:
Pandora
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
Eurydice and Orpheus

Historical Connections:
Ancient Greece

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