by Mercedes Czlapinski

Created on: June 12, 2009

"If you are a dreamer, come in.

If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,

A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...

If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire

For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.

Come in!

Come in!"

- Shel Silverstein

Thus, Shel Silverstein welcomes you into his world of imagination in his book of poetry, Where the Sidewalk Ends. A world where you can plant gardens of diamonds, where a polar bear fits inside a Frigidaire, a boy is eaten by a boa constrictor, and Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout will not take the garbage out. The sense of silliness and playfulness in Shel's poems throughout Where the Sidewalk Ends, as well as his other poetry books including, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up will keep your children laughing for hours - guaranteed.

I was first introduced to Shel Silverstein when I was in first grade, and have loved his poetry ever since. Once a month we had a woman come in who would recite and act out Shel Silverstein's poetry, her favorite being the poem "Sick". She would start out "'I cannot go to school today,' said little Peggy Ann McKay, 'I have the measles and the mumps, a gash, a rash, and purple bumps..." all the while making funny faces and changing her voice to fit the different symptoms she was feeling. By the end of the year I had this poem memorized, and can still recite most of it thirteen years later.

Make no mistake, Shel Silverstein is too talented for his children's poems to just be silly. He puts a level of intelligence into his poems that young children may not recognize, but will learn to appreciate as they grow with him and his books, from the structure and rhyme scheme to the subtle life lessons that he puts into his poetry, like the poem "Listen to the MUSTN'TS":

"Listen to the MUSTN'TS child,

Listen to the DON'TS

Listen to the SHOULDN'TS

The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS

Listen to the NEVER HAVES

Then listen close to me -

Anything can happen, child,

ANYTHING can be."

- Shel Silverstein

Silverstein's books are used across the curriculum to not only make your child crack up at his hilarious stories, but also to teach children about rhyming, and to get them to enjoy poetry. So, if you are looking for a great poetry book for your children, look no further than Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up. Silverstein's imagination has never ceased to amaze me. These are poetry books that both you and your child(ren) alike will enjoy for many years to come.

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