Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein was born in Chicago, Illinois 1932 and died May 10, 1999 from a heart attack. Shel Silverstein was a well know and well liked author/poet. Silverstein noticed his talents when he was twelve years old. When most boys are playing sports and chasing girls, Shel was at home writing and drawing original pieces. His talents were well -developed by the time he served in the US Armed Forces during the 1950's. While in the military he was a cartoonist for the Pacific Edition of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. After his time spent in the military he became a cartoonist for Playboy in 1956. Those works for Playboy were then published into collections named " A Playboy's Teevee Jeebies" and "More Playboy's Teevee Jeebies (Do it yourself Dialogue for the Late Show)."

Silverstein didn't start writing for children till he wrote "Uncle Shelby's Story of Lafcadio, the Lion who shot back" which was published in 1963. After parents and children enjoyed that book Shel Silverstein came out with another book named "Uncle Shelby's A Giraffe and A Half" in 1964.

Shel achieved game for his 1964 publication of the book "The Giving Tree." In the 1960's Shel became well know for his song writing, and many artists such as Johnny Cash sang the songs he had written. He also wrote scores for motion pictures.

Then in 1974 a collection of poems for children came out called "Where the Sidewalk Ends" The book was a success with many creatures and humorous titles; Shel was compared to the likes of Dr. Seuss and Edward Lear. In 1976 Shel put out a picture book called "The Missing Piece" and its sequel in 1981 " The missing Piece Meets the Big O" which was written as the missing piece's point of view. In 1996 another childrens book was published by the name of "Falling Up"

Shel Silverstein being a book lover and collector himself only allows his books to be hardcover with certain paper, font and binding. Even tho his books do not come in paperback, it has not hurt his selling potential. He haws 14 million copies in print today.

The first poem name Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout would not Take the Garbage Out which was in the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" got great reviews and is also a personal favorite of mine. The poem is about a young girl who obviously would not take out the garbage. She would rather let it pile up to the ceiling, cover the floor, crack the windows and cover the door. The she let it cross the state where finally she met an awful fate. Then at the end it reminds children to always take out the garbage so they will not end up like Sarah.

Another poem in the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" was called Where the Sidewalk Ends. This poem is very deep and readers must read between the lines to get the concept of what Silverstein is talking about. Children always wonder what happens when the sidewalk ends and Silverstein answers that question and also leaves a lot to your imagination.

The book "Where the Sidewalk Ends." got a lot of great