After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again)

We all know the story of how Humpty Dumpty fell from the wall, but what happened afterwards? Humpty narrates his own story and tells exactly what followed after his notorious tumble.

This is a beautiful tale about resiliency, which can easily be extended to a metaphor about coping after a trauma and learning to love life again. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and help to tell the story.

I highly recommend this for storytimes and/or readalouds, especially for slightly older kids (preschoolers and elementary school-age, rather than infants and toddlers) who will know the fairy tale/rhyme being referenced.

Primary, Intermediate,

Humpty Dumpty's life story continues after he was put back together again by all the king's men. He is mostly put back together except for what the glue and bandages couldn't fix. He resumes living his life but is limited by his fear of heights so he misses the things he used to enjoy. He tries to enjoy the birds from the ground, gets the idea to create a paper airplane, and after a lot of trial an error creates the perfect plane. He flies it and it lands at the top of the very wall he fell from and still misses but is terrified of. He decides that he has missed too much and he so he takes the tall ladder on the tall wall one step at a time, not looking up, or down but keep going. He makes it to the top and Humpty show more Dumpty hatches into a bird and flies away. His life began when he got back up.

I loved this book. It pushes the idea of perseverance even when it may be uncomfortable or awkward. It normalizes falling down and messing up and encourages the idea that "Life begins when you get back up". show less

Top 100 pick because:

A personable book about an egg that cracks but doesn't shatter. A reminder for everyone to not let fear guide you, but focus on hope and determination. I like that it is from the first person perspective-unlike the impersonal nursery rhyme, this version helps us connect with Humpty and empathize. I love that Dan Santat wrote this for his wife and her personal struggles. I can relate.

No one ever knew what happened to Humpty after the king's men put him back together. Here we see how he lives his life in fear now, he has constant anxiety about falling. He even tailors his life to avoid the risk even though he never fell from those places. He slowly begins to heal and fear turns to bravery in the end.
The illustrations in this book are breathtaking, there is one page where Humpty is int he grocery and the color difference associated with his anxiety is so powerful. Every child would immediately understand what is going to be said on this page just by looking at the picture.

Adorable book, and a great message for children.

The book revisits the famous Humpty Dumpty after the "great fall". He is banged up and cracked in quite a few places. He is now terrified of heights, until one day his paper airplane lands on, not just any wall, but THE wall. Will he regain the courage he once had to climb that wall?

This book teaches children the importance of getting back up when you fall down and never giving up no matter how scared you are.

This is so highly creative that I read it three times in order to allow the stunning images to sink in! Humpty Fell off a high wall, we learned that in kindergarten. But, we new knew that Humpty Dumpty, while remaining incredibly afraid of heights, was cracked and that was that.

Until, he overcame his severe fear of getting up and climbing back on the top of the wall! And if he sat still and didn't jump around, he could remain where he belonged -- right on top.

This is such a wonderful story for little ones who might by bullied, or fell down hard enough to hurt themselves, an later, after awhile, with fortitude, learn to overcome

This is a fun book about Humpty Dumpty after the fall. It turns out all the kings men WERE able to put him back together again, and he was fixed on the outside, but not entirely on the inside. After his fall H.D. developed a fear of heights. This picture books talks about how he worked up his courage and climbed back on that wall. We are talking about "grit" in school this year and this will be a great book to share with my students. I gave it only 4 stars though because I don't love the final page. H.D. is an egg, of course, and at the end of this book [spoiler alert!] he hatches into a bird that flies away. I know the message is supposed to be "you can become something better than who you are now by overcoming your fears," but seeing show more the egg crack open, shells falling down, and the bird flying away, just makes me sad that the egg is no longer. He worked so hard to overcome his fear, then broke and shattered away. show less