Falling Up (1996) Parents Guide: Is the book OK for kids?

There are no sexual themes, romantic content, or references to physical intimacy included in this collection. The poems remain focused on childhood imagination, absurdist situations, and observations about the world from a child's perspective. Some poems touch on the human body, such as anatomical oddities like having too many limbs, but these are purely for humorous or nonsensical effect. The book is entirely appropriate for its middle-grade audience in this regard. There is no suggestive dialogue or mature…

Moderate for the genre, focusing on whimsical or 'cartoon' violence that leans into the macabre. Several poems, such as 'Hungry Mungry' or 'Crazy Dream', feature exaggerated scenarios like heads being used as sports equipment or characters being eaten whole. The illustrations remain simple line drawings, which helps distance the content from reality and prevents it from being graphic. Children are often placed in peril, such as falling into the sky or being stretched on a rack to increase height. These moments are…

Language is very mild and limited to playful insults or double entendres that suit a school-age vocabulary. Occasionally the text includes words like 'butt,' 'dummy,' 'stupid,' or 'idiot' used in a humorous or frustrated context between characters. In the poem 'Gardener', the word 'wee' is used in a way that suggests a child urinating, which serves as a moment of potty humor. There are no profanities or harsh slurs present in any of the poems. The linguistic style relies heavily on puns, nonsense words, and…

Very light and restricted to brief, incidental mentions within the context of adult settings or traditional imagery. Mention of 'winegum' candy or coffee appears momentarily to establish a character's habit or a specific rhyme. In 'The Bagpipe Who Didn't Want to Play', there is a brief mention of a pub-like atmosphere, but no one is shown drinking to excess or acting intoxicated. There is absolutely no depiction of illegal drug use or the glorification of smoking. The focus remains on the imaginative lives of…

The collection features a heavy focus on absurdity, childhood fears, and the subversion of social norms through wit. Many poems deal with the concept of disobedience and the frustration of being a child governed by adult rules, such as in 'The Nap Taker' where a child is punished for a misunderstanding. There are also underlying themes of mortality, the passage of time, and the loss of bodily control that provide a more poignant edge to the humor. Social pressure to fit in and the strangeness of the human…