One of the most profound sections of any bookstore lives with the Children’s Books. My cousin’s kids lured me into this dangerous repository of wisdom from the safe zone of the Adult Self-Help Section. Be careful! Among those wise little people, inspiration can fall and fracture your head into a million little pieces.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses, and all the king’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty together again!
Humpty Dumpty has been around for a long while: earliest sightings in lyrics of 1797 and published first in 1810. He lives permanently with Mother Goose and her Nursery Rhymes, but he has even appeared in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
Everyone knows that he had a great fall. Most people even think that is where the story ends. Dan Santat tells us (with pictures!) what happens “After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again.”
Anyone who has experienced a fall knows that the real story is not about the fall, but about how we get back up again. Broken by the fall, how does Humpty get back up again?
If you are brave and can face falling to pieces, visit your nearest Children’s Bookstore.
Alternate Version from 1797
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
Four-score Men and Four-score more,
Could not make Humpty Dumpty where he was before
Meaning Behind Humpty Dumpty
Click for more about the meaning of Humpty Dumpty.
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