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77th out of 2,281 books
—
3,578 voters
Falling Up
Shel Silverstein's magical tradition continues with this long-awaited companion to A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends. Here are more than 100 new poems and drawings by the master of wit and wisdom, featuring a wealth of wonderfully amusing and lovable characters, including Allison Beals and Her 25 Eels, Reachin' Richard, the clothes-dryin' Moose, and Danny O'...more
Hardcover, 178 pages
Published
August 28th 2003
by Harpercollins Childrens Books
(first published May 10th 1996)
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I fell in love with the plays on words and how childlike the poems were. It didn't take a whole lot of thinking to interpret the poems, because it was all there, clearly stated in the poem.
Falling up is a collection of Shell Silverstien's best poems, and there is no time or date but it is spread worldwide. There are dozens of characters, but most of the poems are about weird things happening to children and old people. All of the poems rhyme or carry a beat. My favorite is HELP! It is about a unicorn who's horn is stuck in a tree but when you try to help it, he gets protective about his horn and and asks you so many questions until you walk away.
My connection is text-to-world, f...more
My connection is text-to-world, f...more
Poetry, a somewhat hard topic to explain to children. Honestly, there are times where I don't even understand it still. "Falling Up" by Shel Silverstein is a collection of poems told for children and are easy to understand where she is coming from. The poems are relatable and like a "handshake", where they make a connection with the reader (Fletcher).
In the poem, "Diving Board", Silverstein uses repetition (Fletcher) to emphasize the nervousness of the diver who can't seem to get off the diving...more
In the poem, "Diving Board", Silverstein uses repetition (Fletcher) to emphasize the nervousness of the diver who can't seem to get off the diving...more
Diving Board
You’ve been up on that diving board
Making sure that it’s nice and straight.
You’ve made sure that it’s not too slick.
You’ve made sure it can stand the weight.
You’ve made sure that the spring is tight.
You’ve made sure that the cloth won’t slip.
You’ve made sure that it bounces right,
And that your toes can get a grip—
And you’ve been up there since half past five
Doin’ everything . . . but DIVE.
~Shel Silverstein
In this poem Shel Silverstein uses repetition to capture readers into his poem...more
You’ve been up on that diving board
Making sure that it’s nice and straight.
You’ve made sure that it’s not too slick.
You’ve made sure it can stand the weight.
You’ve made sure that the spring is tight.
You’ve made sure that the cloth won’t slip.
You’ve made sure that it bounces right,
And that your toes can get a grip—
And you’ve been up there since half past five
Doin’ everything . . . but DIVE.
~Shel Silverstein
In this poem Shel Silverstein uses repetition to capture readers into his poem...more
Falling Up can be summarized in one sentence - A book containing poems for children. That's what you get. There isn't really anything else to say about the book because it was no story or plot. I have always been confused about this book though. By confused, I mean I have no idea who the audience is for Falling Up. I mean, it is a definitely a book that contains poems for children, but how many children actually care about poems? If so, will they go out of their way to read this huge book? If no...more
A collection of poems for all ages where you meet Allsison Beals and her twenty-five eels; Danny O’Dare, the dancin’ Bear; the Human Balloon; and Dentist Dan. A collection of poems, for all ages, that has realism and some more whimsical and darker elements to the poems. Some poems are believable while others are completely fictional and require imagination.
The poems are random, so they don’t have a dramatic question. On the very back page talks about looking no more cause you might just disappea...more
The poems are random, so they don’t have a dramatic question. On the very back page talks about looking no more cause you might just disappea...more
Grade/interest level: Upper elementary (3rd)
Reading level: Fountas and Pinnell, O, P
DRA: 38
Genre: Poetry
Falling Up by Shel Silverstein is a book of poems that is already loved by children and adults alike. The book is full of silly poems mostly about fictional characters and creatures that do not actually exist. Although essentially written for younger readers, it is full of adult humor. Additionally, the poems often talk about morals rules children should be following such as not watching too...more
Reading level: Fountas and Pinnell, O, P
DRA: 38
Genre: Poetry
Falling Up by Shel Silverstein is a book of poems that is already loved by children and adults alike. The book is full of silly poems mostly about fictional characters and creatures that do not actually exist. Although essentially written for younger readers, it is full of adult humor. Additionally, the poems often talk about morals rules children should be following such as not watching too...more
I read two poems in this anthology: "HELP!" and "The Sack Race." I enjoy reading these poems by Shell Silverstein because they are comical. The often remind me of Dr. Seuss in the whimsical rhyming of the lines. In the first poem, a poor unicorn has gotten his horn stuck in a tree. He is so worried that things will go wrong when the person comes to his aid to get him out of the tree. He pesters the "good Samaritan" with questions about how and when will he get him out of the tree. The unicorn as...more
Sep 30, 2012
Mackenzie Wilson
added it
Falling Up by Shel Silverstein was BY FAR one of my favorite poem books when I was growing up. I actually loved all of Shel Silverstein's poetry books, and to this day still own all of them. These books hold a special place in my heart because my grandpa used to read them to me when I was growing up. The way this book is written, is loose and witty, so it is easy for children of all ages to become engaged and instantly like them, and maybe even discover a love for poetry! Silverstein covers a wi...more
"Falling Up" is a great book of poetry for children and in my opinion adults as well. The book contains numerous poems and illustrations that are sure to interest the readers and make them laugh too. All of his illustrations are done in pen and ink and look like the inspiration for the poem. Some of the humor in the poems would not be understood without the picture to accompany it. This is true for the poem "Unfair" when a child talks about how unfair it is that her apartment doesn't allow pets,...more
Some wonderful gems from this anthology of poems and drawings:
FALLING UP
I tripped on my shoelace
And I fell up--
Up to the roof tops,
Up over the town,
Up past the tree tops,
Up over the mountains,
Up where the colors
Blend into the sounds.
But it got me so dizzy
When I looked around,
I got sick to my stomach
And I threw down.
WOULDA-COULDA-SHOULDA
All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
Layin' in the sun,
Talkin' 'bout the things
They woulda-coulda-shoulda done...
But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
All ran away and hid
Fro...more
FALLING UP
I tripped on my shoelace
And I fell up--
Up to the roof tops,
Up over the town,
Up past the tree tops,
Up over the mountains,
Up where the colors
Blend into the sounds.
But it got me so dizzy
When I looked around,
I got sick to my stomach
And I threw down.
WOULDA-COULDA-SHOULDA
All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
Layin' in the sun,
Talkin' 'bout the things
They woulda-coulda-shoulda done...
But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas
All ran away and hid
Fro...more
1. Genre: Poetry
2. Falling Up is a great book of poetry for child and in my opinion adults also. The title contains numerous poems and illustrations that are sure to interest their readers and make them laugh too.
3. Critique
a. This book of poetry has great illustrations which supplement the equally wonderful poems.
b. The title, although all black and white, has many poems with complementing illustrations which will make the reader laugh, spike their interest, and make them keep reading. The po...more
2. Falling Up is a great book of poetry for child and in my opinion adults also. The title contains numerous poems and illustrations that are sure to interest their readers and make them laugh too.
3. Critique
a. This book of poetry has great illustrations which supplement the equally wonderful poems.
b. The title, although all black and white, has many poems with complementing illustrations which will make the reader laugh, spike their interest, and make them keep reading. The po...more
Falling up is filled to the brim with poetry with everything anyone could think of. In this book, the poems incorporate things and people such as Paul Revere, Christmas, Music, lunchtime, having a cold, or even the ABCs and much more. The language that Shel Silverstein uses is very descriptive and figurative that if you close your eyes you could picture what is happening in each poem. Unexpected insights are also a major contributing factor to some of the poems. For example, the poem on page 65...more
Sep 27, 2012
Diana Judd
added it
Falling Up is an anthology of Shel Silverstein poems written especially for children and young people, but that are completely enjoyable for readers of all ages. His poems have the most random topics and are super quirky, while still having some of them be quite inspirational. Each poem is then enhanced with a picture that has been drawn by Silverstein which really adds to the poem's presentation. In many instances with illustrations it is just a random person that has been asked to interpret th...more
I love Shel Silverstein and “Falling Up” is my favorite of his. I really enjoy how fun and playful the poems are. Nothing is too deep and I found myself laughing out loud at some of them. While there’s nothing incredibly complex in this poems most of them still have great lessons and a deeper meaning if you take the time to think about them. When you first pick up this book it could be a little intimidating because it is pretty thick but once you start reading you find yourself just flying throu...more
I've always loved Shel Silverstein's clever and witty poem books. This book of poems, in particular, holds some of my favorite illustrations and peoms. Silverstein's poetic style is witty and interesting. He usually uses rhyming, playful and suggestive tones, exaggeration, irony, but most of all, humour. It is hard not to find yourself laughing at Silverstein's creative and imaginative words. One of my favorite poems, "Gardener", describes a man caught trying to water the plants by peeing on the...more
This book was written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. Artistic elements are all drawings, that the author feels that go with the poems, The drawings are well designed. The picture that accompanies the poem Falling Up is a city scape at the bottom and a child floating up with his shoe falling down to the city scape. The general age range of this book would be primary to intermediate. The book is an anthology from Shel. I choose to read falling up.This poem is about a child who trips on his...more
in the book falling up by shel silverstein i think a main point is that throughout the book the poems get more gruesome as they go along. i think the meaning of this is t tell the reader a specific message, not to be bratty.
in most of the poems in the book it has to do with being bratty, for example the poem of: screamin millie. it is a poem about a girl who screams so much she stats to fall apart. it describes it as her body parts are flying to different ends of the earth. shel silverstien al...more
Shel Silverstein is a flow artist, a freestyle rapper and a man that can put together any words and make them rhyme despite the syllables and counts. Falling Up is one of Silverstein's best compilations of poetry in my opinion. There are over 100 poems within this book and I assure you that every single one of them is as high quality as the rest. That's what I like most about Falling Up, there are no bad poems within the entire thing. Every single poem Silverstein put in this book was a poem tha...more
Falling up is my favorite edition of Shel Silverstein’s books. Although I love all of his books I believe this is the first one I read and ever since I was a child I just really liked it. His style of poetry is so different than any other style and it definitely makes him stand out. I also love his illustrations through out all of his series. Of course my favorite poem in this book is:
I tripped on my shoelace
And I fell up--
Up to the roof tops,
Up over the town,
Up past the tree tops,
Up over t...more
I tripped on my shoelace
And I fell up--
Up to the roof tops,
Up over the town,
Up past the tree tops,
Up over t...more
Shel Silverstein...that is all I have to say. A wonderful poet, witty, and funny. I read this book as a child and loved it. As an adult I love it even more! All of his illustrations (drawings) look like the inspiration of the poem. He understands how to get on the level of the child and takes care to keep the poetry simple and funny. All of his books of poetry are priceless. I actually bought every Shel Silverstein book when I was pregnant with my son. I was so excited to have an excuse to have...more
Shel Silverstein won my heart years ago with his Invitation:
If you are a dreamer, come in.
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer . . .
If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire,
For we have some flax golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!
This was the first time I really sat down with “Falling Up’ to concentrate on it. I love the way Silverstein turns things on their head in this book, literally, with the first poem here the narrator “throws down” after fall...more
If you are a dreamer, come in.
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer . . .
If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire,
For we have some flax golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!
This was the first time I really sat down with “Falling Up’ to concentrate on it. I love the way Silverstein turns things on their head in this book, literally, with the first poem here the narrator “throws down” after fall...more
This is a book of fun and silly poems about things that kids can relate to or enjoy. Poems about family, silly things that are unrealistic but fun to think about, dragons and giants, you name it. I really enjoyed this book, because it was fun to read with my kids. The poems in it allow the reader to just sit back and have a good laugh. The illustrations are cute, simple, and fit the poems perfectly. The best thing about this book though, is that there is something in it for just about every pers...more
The book Falling Up by Shel Silverstein is a book of nonsense poems that are hilarious and have nothing to do with each other except that they all have an over exaggerated hilarious moral to them and I love it.
My favorite part of the book was probably all of it I just loved the feel of the book. I feel like Shel Silverstein was trying to take serious things and make them wacky and funny. This is one of the best poetry books I've read in a long time.
The book really helped me with my poetry writ...more
My favorite part of the book was probably all of it I just loved the feel of the book. I feel like Shel Silverstein was trying to take serious things and make them wacky and funny. This is one of the best poetry books I've read in a long time.
The book really helped me with my poetry writ...more
I have no specific memory of reading this book as a child, but I'm sure that I must have read and enjoyed some Silverstein poems because when I saw a copy of Falling Up at a thrift store, I snatched it right up. Unfortunately, when read by a more grown-up me, Falling Up fell a bit short. Certainly there are some clever and enjoyably silly poems in this collection, as well as some wonderful illustrations, but overall I found the humor a little too immature and grisly for my tastes.
I remember, as...more
I remember, as...more
1. Genre: Junior Book---poetry
2. Summary: This book is full of humorous children's poems with coinciding illustrations.
3a. Critique: illustrations
3b. The illustrations in this book represent the poems accurately and provide amusing visuals. In some cases, the illustrations even further explain the meaning of the poem.
3c. The poem "Hungry Kid Island" presents the mystery of why the island is called Hungry Kid Island, but does not provide an explanation. The illustration, however, shows that the i...more
2. Summary: This book is full of humorous children's poems with coinciding illustrations.
3a. Critique: illustrations
3b. The illustrations in this book represent the poems accurately and provide amusing visuals. In some cases, the illustrations even further explain the meaning of the poem.
3c. The poem "Hungry Kid Island" presents the mystery of why the island is called Hungry Kid Island, but does not provide an explanation. The illustration, however, shows that the i...more
Age:
Grades 2-4
Genre:
poetry
Diversity:
children; imagination
Illustrations:
Illustrations look like they were drawn with pencil.
Personal response:
I can't help but compare each of the books of poetry to Where the Sidewalk Ends but I still like this book. It is full of humorous poems and child-like innocence in some of them. My favorite poem in this collection is:
Snowball
I made myself a snowball
As perfect as can be.
I thought I'd keep it as a pet
And let it sleep with me.
I made it some pajamas
And a pill...more
Grades 2-4
Genre:
poetry
Diversity:
children; imagination
Illustrations:
Illustrations look like they were drawn with pencil.
Personal response:
I can't help but compare each of the books of poetry to Where the Sidewalk Ends but I still like this book. It is full of humorous poems and child-like innocence in some of them. My favorite poem in this collection is:
Snowball
I made myself a snowball
As perfect as can be.
I thought I'd keep it as a pet
And let it sleep with me.
I made it some pajamas
And a pill...more
Hilarious poems accompanied by Silverstein's distinctive pen-and-ink drawings.
Accessible poetry that kids (and immature adults) will love!
Accessible poetry that kids (and immature adults) will love!
A book full of poetry… what is better? A book full of poetry by Shel Silverstein, that is what is better! Falling Up written by Shel Silverstein is a book full of poetry and illustrations that will grab the reader’s attention. The poems are funny and really uplifting. They are sure to make a sad person, happy. The illustrations take the look of being done by pen. Very simplistic. It is nice to have the poem to read and a fun illustration to go with it. Definitely read this book… read it to your...more
Oct 25, 2012
2 Kathryn B
added it
The book titled Falling up by Shel Silverstein is a variety of many different poems. There were some poems about animals, shoes, and people. The people were all different. There were poems about girls, boys, crazy guys, and people who fix different things. There were even poems about vampires, werewolves, and even a ghoul. Some of the poems rhymed and some did not. My favorite poem was called "NO". It was about all these different things that you could not do and at the end a beaver ate off the...more
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| cool Dude Yo Watup Dawg | 20 | 33 | May 11, 2012 05:13am |
Shel Silverstein was the author-artist of many beloved books of prose and poetry. He was a cartoonist, playwright, poet, performer, recording artist, and Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated songwriter.
More about Shel Silverstein...
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“Tell my I'm clever,
Tell me I'm kind,
Tell me I'm talented,
Tell me I'm cute,
Tell me I'm sensitive,
Graceful and Wise
Tell me I'm perfect--
But tell me the TRUTH.”
—
459 people liked it
Tell me I'm kind,
Tell me I'm talented,
Tell me I'm cute,
Tell me I'm sensitive,
Graceful and Wise
Tell me I'm perfect--
But tell me the TRUTH.”
“why can't you see i'm a kid', said the kid.
Why try to make me like you?
Why are you hurt when I don't cuddle?
Why do you sigh when I splash through a puddle?
Why do you scream when I do what I did?
Im a kid.”
—
248 people liked it
More quotes…
Why try to make me like you?
Why are you hurt when I don't cuddle?
Why do you sigh when I splash through a puddle?
Why do you scream when I do what I did?
Im a kid.”
May 02, 2013 05:51pm