Falling Up

Title: Falling Up
Author and Illustrator: Shel Silverstein
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0060248025


Falling Up by Shel Silverstein:


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.


When we were asked to write a blog on a book of poetry that is intended for children, my mind immediately went to the corridor in P.S. 321 where I sat with my friend Elizabeth and waited for lunch.  We would sit and wait for the third graders to have our turn to go into the cafeteria.  Elizabeth had brought in books before, but nothing like Shel Silverstein's latest book of poetry, "Falling Up".  I have read "a Light in the Attic" and "Where The Sidewalk Ends" and have loved them both, but for me I can vividly remember bringing in "Falling Up", I can see the cover art when I close my eyes and though when we were assigned to write about a poetry book I couldn't remember the names of the poems, I could remember feeling happy when thinking about the book.  I think that is the most important aspect of poetry, the feeling.  The feeling that a poem can elicit with a style that is unlike a narrative and is often time much shorter than a narrative is unparalleled.


I have often times thought that I do not particularly enjoy poetry, there are times that I find it confusing or I feel as though I am taking things too literally rather than viewing things abstractly which is often something you must do when reading poetry.  However, there a few authors that I have always felt I have understood their poetry, Shel Silverstein being among the very top.  I think that the imagination in this collection is one of things that originally drew me to these poems, they are clever and powerful and can be explained in any way the reader chooses to explain them.  The poems in this collection are funny and silly and goofy and everything that childhood should encompass, they are creative and whimsical and are important in reminding children that poetry does not have to be serious.


I think one of the most profound lessons that I took away from "Falling Up" and one that I was reminded of while re-reading it for this assignment is that poetry does not have to be intimidating.  Even as an adult I hear the word "poetry" and I panic, but while looking through this book I am reminded that it is not as scary as it may seem, Shel makes it approachable.  These poems are about sneaky cousins, sharing, long scarfs and hand holding, there is no rhyme or reason behind the topics of these poems except that they were things that Shel Silverstein wanted to share with the world, which is an important message about poetry to pass along to children.


I think that this book could easily be used in the classroom, it can teach about the flexibility of poetry, that poetry is far less rigid in both content and structure than almost any other form of writing.  Some of the poems rhyme and others don't, some of them are meant to make a child laugh, some to make them think and others allow the child to see the world from a different viewpoint, to think of something they have never thought of before.  There is wisdom in the words that Shel uses in his poetry, there is meaning, but a child would never feel as though they are being forced to understand something that someone else had written, with these poems I feel as though you are free to make your own assumptions about the poems.  One way I think that this collection could be used in the classroom, would be to ask students to visualize what is being said in the poem and to ask them to draw it or explain it.  This would be especially useful if you were to do this with a poem that Shel Silverstein had drawn a picture for, this way as a class you could compare and contrast the differences and similarities between the students interpretations and Shel Silverstein's interpretation - which is a major part of understanding poetry.


An added bonus to these poems are the illustrations that Shel includes.  They are black and white and extremely simple, they seem to be drawn with just a pencil and are made to look as though a child who had just read the poem would draw what they had read. They are to the point and simple but are extremely endearing and tell so much about the poems they represent.  Not all of the poems have a specific picture but it is not necessary.


I feel as though after re-reading this collection of poetry I'm more in touch with the poetry that never made me feel dwarfed, as some poetry has during my lifetime.  The charm and wit of this collection lend greatly to it's appeal to a younger crowd, but also to those of us who could just use a little bit more laughter during the day.  It is a wonderful approach to poetry because it allows children to see all that poetry can be without it being intimidating.  I truly enjoyed reading these poems again, just as much as I did when I was in third grade in that corridor at P.S. 321, waiting for lunch with Elizabeth.