UP-UP-DOWN started as a finger play that I used with children in a program for 2 and 3 year old kids. All it was in the beginning was a game where I would go: “ up-up-up-up-up-up- faaaaaalllllll DOWN”, while I raised my hands and then fell down. The kids imitated me and loved the game.
Later I started to insert this game into stories about climbing and finally the whole thing settled down into the UP-UP-DOWN story in its present state. So the story is a toddler game inserted into a story that interests older kids.
The use of text in the story was a problem. When an adult is telling the story, their effectiveness depends on how they use their voice in the “up-up-down” sequence. So the text placement tells them how to do it! In the book the text does not go in a straight line. The “up-up” climbs up the page and this gets the reader to ‘climb’ with their voice.
Anna lived near us and got into the story because she happened to be in the right place at the right time.
