Falling Up 

Author: Shel Silverstein 

Illustrator: Shel Silverstein 

Date Published: 1996 

About the book: Falling Up is a collection of poetry for children written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. The book was  published by Harper Collins Publisher in 1996. It features 144 poems and Shel Silverstein dedicated the book to his son, Matt. 

Summary: A collection of children poem from an array of topics. Poor Screamin' Millie is just one of the unforgettable characters in this wondrous new book of poems and drawings by the creator of Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. Here you will also meet Allison Beals and her twenty-five eels; Danny O'Dare, the dancin' bear; the Human Balloon; and Headphone Harold. So come, wander through the Nose Garden, ride the Little Hoarse, eat in the Strange Restaurant, and let the magic of Shel Silverstein open your eyes and tickle your mind.

Genre: The genre of the book is Poetry and verses. Poetry and Verses can be defined as "Condensed language, expression of imaginative thoughts and perceptions, often containing rhymes and other devices of sound, imagery, figurative language." (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe. 2010, p.12)  Poetry is the shorthand of beauty; its distilled language captures the essence of an idea or experience and encompasses the universe in its vision....A lot of poetry is rhythmic and rhymed, appealing to the ear as well as to the mind and emotions, but many wonderful poems are in free-verse or concrete forms as well.   (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe. 2010, p.13)

Illustration:

       
The illustration of this book is surrealistic art. This type of art has startling images and incongruities that often suggest an attitude or mockery about conventionalities. Surreal pictures are often composed of the kind of images experienced in dreams or nightmare or in a state of hallucination.  (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe. 2010, p.82) The technique of the illustration is drawing and the medium is pencil. The illustrator did not use any colors in his illustration but he did used the other elements of visual. Some of the image are a bit scary, but in a fun way. The illustrations reflects  the content of the poem and they work coherently to convey meaning to readers. 

   

Motivational Activity:

Activity 1 -                                         What’s in a Name?
An acrostic poem uses letters from a name or a word to begin each line in a
poem. All the lines in the poem must relate to or describe the topic word. Your
poem can be about your name, the name of a friend, a famous person, or even
a favorite animal, hobby, or sport. Think of words that best describe your name
or topic and practice writing your poem below. For an ever greater challenge,
try to make the lines of your acrostic poem rhyme. 


Activity 2 -                                                 Poetry & Authors Chair 
After reading a few poems from the book and viewing the illustrations, children will create their own poem and illustration. Children will then read their poem to the class in the Author's Chair activity.

Personal Opinion: I absolutely love this book. I read a few of the poems and I could not stop laughing. The poems are short and funny and children will find them hilarious. The topics are diverse and I believe that children will relate to them. I also love the nonsensical illustration that accompany the text. I will definitely get a copy of this book for myself  and I would recommend this book to everyone. 

Other books by the Author:

• Where The Side Walk Ends.

• A Light In The Attic.

•  The Giving Tree. 

• The Missing Piece 

References: 

Silverstein, S. (1996). Falling up: Poems and drawings. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. 


Celebrate National Poetry Month with Shel Silverstein [PDF]. (n.d.).