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BOOK: After the Fall
AUTHOR: Dan Santat
YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 2017
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My younger daughter has many picture books. Some were passed down from her big sister, and some were picked up at library book sales. I purchased some of them, and some are gifts from other people. I’m actually not 100% sure where we acquired After the Fall, but we recently read it together as a bedtime story, and she declared that it was the best book ever.
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It’s the story of Humpty Dumpty…after he fell off the wall. (He did become rather famous for that.) In this continuation of the nursery rhyme, the king’s men did manage to patch him up, but “there were some parts that couldn’t be healed with bandages and glue.” Humpty Dumpty became a rather traumatized egg, afraid of heights after his accident, and he started missing out on some of his favorite things: his top bunk in the bunk bed, his favorite cereals on the high shelves in the store, and most of all, seeing the birds flying and being high above the city.
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Fortunately for Humpty Dumpty (and for young readers), he eventually decided to get back up on that wall, despite the fact that he was terrified. This story’s conclusion and Humpty Dumpty’s ultimate fate are both inspiring and a bit unexpected.
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Pick up this sweet story for any young person whom you know could use a little encouragement. (In other words, pick up this sweet story for any young person you’ve ever met.)
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RATING (one to five whistles, with five being the best): 3 1/2 Whistles
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HOW TO PURCHASE: Amazon
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Laura LaVelle is an attorney and writer who lives in Connecticut, in a not quite 100-year-old house, along with her husband, two daughters, and a cockatiel.
Laura can be contacted at laura@newswhistle.com.
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Lead-In Image (“After The Fall”) Courtesy of Macmillan
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