Stories for Growing
Cover of After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again)Ages 4 to 8
CourageFacing problemsPersistence

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

Dan Santat

Ages 4 to 8
About this age guidance

Kirkus: 4–8; Publishers Weekly: 4–8

The age tag follows Kirkus review. Other sources may suggest different ages. This is audience guidance, not an independent reading level.

Listed among picture books about courage and facing fears. The blogger describes Humpty’s paper-airplane plan and the wall he has to face.

Humpty Dumpty’s fall leaves him afraid of heights, and fear quietly takes away the things he loves. Paper airplanes let him stay close to the birds from the ground. When a plane lands on the wall, he climbs it despite his fear and, at the top, becomes a bird and flies.

Recommended by Imagination Soup

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What children see in the story

Humpty climbs the very wall that frightens him because he wants something more than he wants to stay safe. The fear that came from the fall is faced directly rather than worked around forever. Repeated failed airplane attempts come before success, and the climb itself is slow and effortful.

Why it’s on these shelves

Courage
Humpty Dumpty has been afraid of heights since his fall, even of his own top bunk. When a paper airplane lands on top of the wall, he climbs it anyway, and at the top he flies.
Facing problems
Fear of heights keeps Humpty away from things he loves, so he stays near the birds with paper airplanes instead. Then he faces it and climbs the wall he has been avoiding.
Persistence
Humpty builds his paper airplane painstakingly, through several attempts that cost him papercuts. The plane that finally lands on top of the wall leads him to the climb.

Why pick it up?

Humpty reaches the top of the wall and flies; the ending is a metaphor for moving past fear.

A note for parents

Kirkus: younger readers may not notice that it is also okay not to be okay yet. The transformation ending is metaphorical and may need a word of explanation for ages 4–5.

Where this recommendation comes from

Imagination Soup

Listed among picture books about courage and facing fears. The blogger describes Humpty’s paper-airplane plan and the wall he has to face.

Read Melissa Taylor’s recommendation
Sources and review status

We have checked source descriptions and drafted the value mapping. We have not personally reviewed the full book. The value labels, situation assignments, and parent notes remain provisional.

Publisher or literacy resource · Original recommendation

Our explanation of the value fit is separate from the original reviewer’s judgment. Their inclusion here does not imply an endorsement of Stories for Growing.

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