March 2026 – Just in case you’re making it up

Says about the book Marek Adler, principal of Be Open Elementary School.

At a time when bookstore shelves are overflowing with self-help titles full of guaranteed recipes and techniques, Shel Silverstein comes with the book "Just in case you’re making it up," which offers none of that – and yet you might learn more about yourself from it than from many thick personal development guides. Originally categorized as a children’s book, this poetry collection is actually something the Czech book scene rarely sees: poetry that isn’t afraid to be funny, mischievous, and unsettling all at once.

The poems are multi-layered. They work as simple rhymes that easily entertain seven-year-old children. At the same time, adult readers find precise and sometimes uncomfortable reflections on human nature, social conventions, and the ways we deceive ourselves. Silverstein doesn’t sugarcoat the world; he spares neither children nor adults – and that’s exactly why the collection resonates across generations. It’s not straightforward children’s poetry, nor a typical adult literary collection. It’s something quite different.

And this very quality makes it an unusual tool for self-reflection. Much like coaching cards widely used in training sessions and workshops today, each poem offers an open entry point: you read it, and what you put into it, what you see in it, is a statement about yourself. A randomly opened page can trigger thoughts that no straightforward self-help book can – because the space between the lines of a poem is always yours.

"Just in case you’re making it up" is not just a book for long winter evenings or family fun. It’s a collection that waits for you – and every time you open it, you read it a little differently. And that’s a quality very few books have.

Who is Marek Adler?

Marek Adler is the principal of Be Open Elementary School.