Up, Up, Down!

by Robert Munsch, Michael Martchenko (Illustrator)

Best-selling author and illustrator Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko team up to create this comical adventure about an energetic little girl named Anna who loves to climb!

Anna ignores her mother's constant earning to "Be careful! Don't climb!," even after she falls down from scaling the refrigerator and the side of the house. One day, Anna manages to climb all the way up a palm tree, but the descent leaves her frantically hanging from a leaf. When her parents come to the rescue, the tables are quickly turned when her mother and father are the ones hanging from the tree instead!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Canada, Storytime, Juvenile, Family, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Robert Munsch was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Fordham University in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and from Boston University in 1971 with a Master of Arts degree in anthropology.

He studied to become a Jesuit priest, but decided he would rather work with children after jobs at orphanages and daycare centers. In 1973, he received a Master of Education in Child Studies from Tufts University. In 1975 he moved to Canada to work at the preschool at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. He also taught in the Department of Family Studies at the University of Guelph as a lecturer and as an assistant professor. In Guelph he was encouraged to publish the many stories he made up for the children he worked with.

Munsch's wife delivered two stillborn babies in 1979 and 1980. Out of the tragedy, he produced one of his best-known books, Love You Forever. This book was listed fourth on the 2001 Publishers Weekly All-Time Best selling Children's Books list for paperbacks at 6,970,000 copies (not including the 1,049,000 hardcover copies). The Munsches have since become adoptive parents of Julie, Andrew and Tyya (see them all in Something Good!)

Munsch has obsessive-compulsive disorder and has also suffered from manic depression. In August 2008, Munsch suffered a stroke that affected his ability to speak in normal sentences. He has recovered enough that he is able to perform live, but has put his writing career on hold until he is fully recovered.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna loves to climb: she climbs the fridge, but falls on her head. She climbs her dresser, but falls on her tummy. Her parents tell her not to climb and to go play outside ... so she heads to the TREE and with careful planning, climbs it to the top! Now her parents want her to get down, but are they careful enough?

The cover has the Toronto skyline in the background, but Munsch dedicated it to a girl called Anna from Guelph (from which you can't see Toronto!); really though Anna and her home can represent any developed country, and her adventures are delightful fun. Thankfully the falls and injuries are exaggerated for comic relief!

The kids really enjoy this one; at about a year and a half old, they love the illustrations and the up up up up up up fallllll down and other sounds in the text. It's quite timely really, because it contains a lot of words and concepts they're learning right now. It's also a great story for older kids, with a home-grown adventure they're sure to identify with.

[Simon Omnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among Robert Munsch`s books, the story Up, Up and Down! stands among one of his most popular. Which makes sense as it is quite comedic and relates to the art of climbing, which every kid has done in his/her life. Whether at home around the kitchen counters, refrigerator, and bedroom furniture. Sometimes succeeding their climbing, and at other occasions falling down and hurting themselves.

Which is exactly what Anna experiences in this book. Trying to climb things, but hurting herself while her parents warned her to not do that. Although when she decides to climb the tallest tree in her neighbourhood, she decides to do everything to succeed her venture. Even though her parents are unaware of her project.

So this book, while also being a good prevention fable for young readers, is also a very funny story. Ideal for a picnic or an outdoor event for children around the woods, but also for a bedtime story. An ideal way to enjoy some good moments together between parents and children.

In its prose, I like, how the text was printed so that the words up, fall, and down were printed according to the height level of Anna’s climb around the tree. Which creates excellent comical and narrative effects. Giving a new dynamic to the work.

As for the illustrations, I love how Michael Martchenko used two pages to illustrate a very tall tree. Printing the art horizontally, which means that to see it properly, one must turn the book 90 degrees to the right to catch the imposing nature of that nature structure.

In the end, this Robert Munsch Book in another jewel in the literature of this great Canadian author.

[Roya · Rating 3 out of 5]

منم دختری بودم که بالا می‌رفت؛ هنوز هم هستم.

بچه که بودم عاشق بالا رفتن از درخت بودم. نزدیکِ خونه‌ی مادربزرگِ مامانم یه باغ متروکه بود که یه درختِ شاه‌توتِ پیر داشت. عاشق این بودم که ازش بالا برم و شاه‌توت بخورم و برگشتنی چند تا از برگ‌هاشو بکنم و با خودم ببرم چون مامان‌بزرگِ مامانم میگفت دستای رنگی‌ت فقط با برگِ خودِ درخت توت تمیز میشه.

پشتِ خونه‌باغِ بابابزرگم یه تپه‌ی بزرگ بود که هروقت غیبم می‌زد همه می‌دونستن از تپه رفتم بالا و احتمالا با یه شیشه از حشراتی که "کشف" کردم برمی‌گردم.

توی شیش سالگی یه همسایه داشتیم که عصرهایی که مامانم اجازه نمی‌داد برم تو کوچه دوچرخه‌سواری، از چهارپایه بالا می‌رفتم و از روی دیوار با دختر همسایه حرف می‌زدم و اون نقاشی‌هاشو نشونم می‌داد.

توی پنج سالگی از کمدم رفتم بالا و از درِ کمد آویزون شدم که تاب بخورم و کمد چپه شد و من موندم زیر کمد! مامانم هم فکر کردم واسه این از کمد بالا رفتم که آبرنگی که برای روز کودک واسه‌م خریده بود رو بردارم و از دستِ آبرنگ عصبانی شد و شکوندش!

من عاشق بالا رفتن از همه‌چیز بودم. هنوز هم هستم.
واسه همینه که عاشق کوهنوردیم.
عاشق هر چیزِ بلندی که بتونم ازش بالا برم‌.

[Brooke Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for all those adventurous children out there! I would personally recommend this book to all teachers and children! In this story, Anna loves to climb, but majority of the time it ends up with her falling down. Her mom always tells her to be careful and not climb. She climbs the house and makes it all the way to the top without falling. Her mom and dad both try to come after her but while they’re on their way up they fall down. This time Anna gets to tell her parents to be careful and not climb. This book is a predictable book with the up, up, up, up, down parts which helps students pretend to read which helps kids experience reading and build their confidence. This could also be a great book for the beginning of the school year when discussing school and playground safety as well.

[Emily Gerstenschlager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read 6/1/21
Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: 1st
I really enjoyed this book. I think the students will think it is very funny with Anna not listening to her parents and climbing things after they tell her not to. I also think they will love when the parents fall out of the tree and Anna wraps them in giant band aids. I would teach a lesson about onomatopoeias with this book because the author uses them often throughout the book. This is a great book to teach this with because they have distinguished these words with a different font.

[paige turner ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little read about the one thing parents always tell their children--don't climb. Kids will be kids, and Anna at least finds a giant tree to climb.

I had a bunch of laughs when she was up in that tree, where did she get all of that food? Why such big band-aids?

A silly book of fun is what this is, and at least Anna got the last laugh telling her parents not to climb.

[Malka Avram · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun repetitive book, perfect for young children. It is great for teaching direction and using sign language. Up up fall down. Children like to be able to determine what the parents say, and what happens. Also a great book for using omnimatapaea words like ow ow ouch. Children's think it's so much fun.

[Bridgette Elston · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 4 year old liked this one but I did not. Anna keeps climbing despite being told to stop and then when the parents climb she turns all parent and tells them to stop.

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of cute but not as good as the old school Robert Munsch. I might use it for my movement based storytime.

[Kazia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It made me laugh, and the illustrations, as always, are very entertaining.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute! Niece insisted I read it out loud to everyone at her birthday party. Fairly quick read in classic Munsch style.

Remember folks, DON'T CLIMB! lol

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice

[Nakia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was kind of strange, but okay.

[Maude Duquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

C’est un bon livre pour les enfants de 3 à 5 ans c’est humoristique

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made my son and I laugh!

[Mim_farahani · Rating 1 out of 5]

واقعا نمی‌دونم هدف نشر پرتقال از ترجمه و چاپ بعضی از کتاب ها چیه؟!
نه قصه جدیدی داشت
نه بامزه بود
نه تصویرگریش جذاب بود
بدآموزی هم داشت!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can see why this isn't one the most popular books by Robert Munsch, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked in our all-ages storytime. His oral storytelling style of writing works really well with a big crowd in an outdoor setting. I'll definitely start looking for more to use.

[Carley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anna is the climbing queen. Though she goes through many obstacles, she finally discovers something to climb and climb well. When Anna finally gets herself up the tree, she refuses to come down and nobody can come up to get her.

It's a little awkward for me to think of this now that I'm 21. I would never dream of talking to my parents the way that Anna did, but all growing up, my sisters thought this was one of the funniest books ever.

Targets: problem solving, descriptive words, recalling, inferencing

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy reading Robert Munsch's books. This one did not disappoint. I would recommend this book to others. liked that the text changes direction (she's is climbing up, the text goes up). When mom is yelling at her to get down, the text is big and bold. Even if the students cannot read the text, they might know that when the text is big and bold, they are yelling. Students will find humor in this book. Anna's parents tell her to stop climbing up, but at the end of the book they climb the tree and fall 'right on their bottoms'. The text is complex enough for first or second grade readers, depending on their reading ability. However, even kindergartners can 'read' this book. I would have the students look for sight words in the text, there are lots! I would use this book for a read aloud. There is a pattern to the text and the students could pick up on that and help read the book. I would also use this in a small group setting in kindergarten to find sight words in the book and then perhaps write our own sentences using the sight words.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anna likes to climb, even though her parents tell her not to. So, when she climbs up the tall TREE in their yard, her parents try to climb up after her. However, they aren't as agile and fall out and hurt themselves. There's a lesson to be learned, but who will learn it?

Great for storytime with preschoolers. Munsch, as usual, has great writing with opportunities for silly voices and sound effects.

[Kaylie Henley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really cute fun book that is a bit of realistic fiction because of how these events could really and probably do happen with kids and parents everyday. This story is about a little girl who loves to climb but her parents are always telling her to be careful and stop climbing. It shows a little sarcastic side from the little girl from the end which is very fun but , i guess that means she was listening to her parents after all.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely wacky story and illustrations, with some dramatic up, up, up, dooooown lines you can have some fun with. I'm not sure this is a great morality lesson, but the physical humor and the fact that the kids are in charge here definitely appeals to little ones. Bonus points for having an African American family as the stars.

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Up, up, down is about climbing. My favourite character is the girl who climbs, Anna. She is my favourite because she climbed the tree. I liked the book because the girl climbs. I would recommend this book to people who climb their stuff like a bookshelf because then I could say this is what could happen.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for the first time in my early 20's, at a Chapters March break event in Fredericton and while it wasn't peak Munsch, the kids liked it, especially when Anna mocks her parents from atop the giant tree. I ran into some people in Saint John a couple years later, and they remembered me from that reading, which felt good, and confirmed that the book went over well.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story, like all Robert Munsch books, is all about strong-minded kids and non-influential adults. The story is cute, but I appreciate how Munsch visually represents words and phrases to help toddlers become emerging readers through word recognition.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the illustrations, especially the beaver, who starts out gnawing at the tree, then switches to an axe, then a chainsaw, and the antics of the kittens. The story was NOT one of his better ones, however.

[Nicole Reads Romance · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have the board book version of Up, Up, Down and it's a daily read for my toddler for over 6 months now (she can now virtually recite it herself). A fun story in keeping with Munsch's strong-willed children.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna liked to climb, although she would fall on her head or her bottom and her parents warned her to not climb. When Anna climbed the tallest tree they tried to get her down. Funny ending to this entertaining story. Great illustrations.

[Amberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read aloud if you enjoy doing fun nonsense noises with your voice.

[Shanaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE THIS BOOK