Falling Up: Poems and Drawings

From Publishers Weekly
All the things that children loved about A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends can be found in abundance in this eclectic volume, Silverstein's first book of poetry in 20 years. By turns cheeky and clever and often darkly subversive, the poems are vintage Silverstein, presented in a black-and-white format that duplicates his earlier books. Like Roald Dahl, Silverstein's cartoons and poems are humorously seditious, often giving voice to a child's desire to be empowered or to retaliate for perceived injustice: one child character wields a "Remote-a-Dad" that will instantly control his father, and another dreams of his teachers becoming his students so that when they talk or laugh in class, he can "pinch 'em 'til they [cry]." The poems focus on the unexpected-a piglet receives a "people-back ride" and Medusa's snake-hair argues about whether to be coifed in cornrows or bangs. Sometimes the art traffics in gross-out, as when William Tell gets an arrow through his forehead or a cartoon character sticks carrots in his sockets because he's heard that carrots are good for his eyes. Although some parents and teachers may cringe at such touches, Silverstein's anti-establishment humor percolates as he lampoons conventions (the stork not only brings babies but "comes and gets the older folks/ When it's their time to go"), or discards decorum (a small gardener zips up his pants after watering the plants "that way"). No matter that the author's rhythms and rhymes can be sloppy, or that his annoying insistence on leavin' off the endin' to his ING's seems artificially folksy, Silverstein's ability to see the world from, as he says, "a different angle" will undoubtedly earn this book a wide audience. All ages. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 3 Up?Fifteen years after A Light in the Attic (1981) and 22 years after Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974, both HarperCollins), Silverstein, whose poetry has achieved cultlike popularity, offers readers another collection. While bodily functions seem to be the source of humor in more poems than in the earlier titles, and while there are fewer wonderful images here, the child appeal is as strong as ever. Once again, Silverstein's pen-and-ink drawings are the perfect accompaniment to the poems, always extending and often explaining the words. The book abounds in energetic wordplay ("I saw an ol' gnome/Take a gknock at a gnat/Who was gnibbling the gnose of his gnu") and childlike silliness ("I only ate one drumstick/At the picnic dance this summer...But everybody's mad at me,/Especially the drummer"). Silverstein writes wonderful nonsense verse, but he has used rhyme and rhythm to greater effect in the past. There is much to love in Falling Up, but it has its ups and downs.?Kathleen Whalin, Greenwich Country Day School, CTCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Well, finally. In this long-overdue follow-up to A Light In The Attic (1981), Silverstein once again displays the talent for wordplay and idea-play that keeps his poetry evergreen. In bumptious verse that seldom runs more than three or four stanzas, he introduces a gallery of daffy characters, including the Terrible Toy-Eating Tookle, a hamburger named James, blissfully oblivious Headphone Harold, and the so-attractive folk attending the ``Rotten Convention''--``Mr. Mud and the Creepin' Crud/And the Drooler and Belchin' Bob,'' to name but a few. The humor has become more alimentary with the years, but the lively, deceptively simple art hasn't changed a bit. Its puzzled-looking young people (with an occasional monster or grimacing grown-up thrown in) provide visual punchlines and make silly situations explicit; a short ten-year-old ``grows another foot''--from the top of his head--and a worried child is assured that there's no mouse in her hair (it's an elephant). Readers chortling their way through this inspired assemblage of cautionary tales, verbal hijinks, and thoughtful observations, deftly inserted, will find the temptation to read parts of it aloud irresistible. (index) (Poetry. 7+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description
Millie McDeevit screamed a screamSo loud it made her eyebrows steam.She screamed so loudHer jawbone broke,Her tongue caught fire,Her nostrils smoked...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. 1996 Children's Books (NY Public Library)
Editor's Chice 1996 (Booklist)
1997 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (ALA)
1997 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
Children's Choices for 1997 (IRA/CBC)

Card catalog description
A collection of humorous poems and drawings.

About the Author
If you are a dreamer, come in, begins Invitation, the opening poem in Where the Sidewalk Ends. Millions of dreamers have answered that call, returning again and again to the poems, drawings, fables, songs, plays, and all the other inspired creations of the incomparable Shel Silverstein.Born in Chicago on September 25, 1930, Sheldon Allan Silverstein grew up to attain an enormous public following, but he always preferred to say little about himself. When I was a kid, he told Publishers Weekly in 1975, I would much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls. But I couldn't play ball. I couldn't dance. So I started to draw and to write. He began contributing cartoons to Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military publication, when he was serving in the armed forces in Korea during the 1950s.Shel Silverstein never planned on writing and illustrating books for children, but happily they are now available in more than 30 languages around the world. His first book, Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book, published in 1961, was intended for adults. But Tomi Ungerer, a friend whose own career in children's books was blossoming, introduced him to his editor, Harper's legendary Ursula Nordstrom. In 1963, Shel Silverstein's first children's book appeared, Lafcadio, the Lion who Shot Back, the story of a lion who becomes a famous marksman only to discover that worldly success is not what he wants.The next year brought The Giving Tree. The book sold modestly at first, but soon this gentle parable about a boy and the tree that loved him was admired by readers of all ages, recommended by counselors and teachers, and being read aloud from pulpits. Decades after its initial publication, with more than five and a half million copies sold, The Giving Tree holds a permanent spot atop lists of perennial bestsellers.Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein's first collection of poems, was published in 1974 and hailed as an instant classic. Its poems and drawings were applauded for their zany wit, irreverent wisdom, and tender heart. Two more collections followed: A Light in the Attic, in 1981, and Falling Up, in 1996. Both books dominated bestseller lists for months, with A Light in the Attic shattering all previous records for its 182-week stay on the New York Times list. Silverstein's unique talent ranged broadly. He enjoyed a long career as a songwriter, with credits that included the Johnny Cash's number one hit A Boy Named Sue and I'm Checking Out, written for the film Postcards from the Edge and nominated for an Academy Award in 1991. He performed his own music on a number of albums and produced others for friends, including his last, Old Dogs, which was released in 1998. Silverstein won a Grammy Award in 1984 for his selection of poems recited, sung and shouted from Where the Sidewalk Ends.Shel Silverstein was so accomplished as a playwright that Frank Rich, the New York Times critic, once wondered if the theater may eventually prove his most fruitful career to date. His theatrical work included the 1981 hit The Lady or the Tiger Show as well as Remember Crazy Zelda? and Wild Life (the 1988 production of several one-act plays that prompted Mr. Rich's happy speculation). He and David Mamet each wrote a play for Lincoln Center's production of Oh, Hell, and they later collaborated on writing the 1988 film Things Change, which Mr. Mamet also directed.For many years, Shel Silverstein maintained homes in Greenwich Village, Key West, Martha's Vineyard, and on a houseboat in Sausalito, California. He died in Key West in May 1999.


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