Silverstein, Shel Books

Where the Sidewalk Ends 30th Anniversary Edition: Poems and Drawings

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 75 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

wonderfuly fond 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I find this book to be wonderful in ways I don't have words for, my grandmother read me this book when i was young enough to not know how to read it to myself, and it has remained my favorite ever since, ( I'm 25 now ) its interesting to see the differences between having it read to me back then and reading it now. I see the ramifications of some of the poems now, that i of course missed as a child, things like no more war, and love for everyone, truly one of the best books of all time

Editorial Review:

Including 12 New Poems!

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 . . .

Come in . . . for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein's world begins. You'll meet a boy who turns into a TV set, and a girl who eats a whale. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.

Shel Silverstein's masterful collection of poems and drawings is at once outrageously funny and profound.

The Giving Tree

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 610 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

To say that this particular apple tree is a "giving tree" is an understatement. In Shel Silverstein's popular tale of few words and simple line drawings, a tree starts out as a leafy playground, shade provider, and apple bearer for a rambunctious little boy. Making the boy happy makes the tree happy, but with time it becomes more challenging for the generous tree to meet his needs. When he asks for money, she suggests that he sell her apples. When he asks for a house, she offers her branches for lumber. When the boy is old, too old and sad to play in the tree, he asks the tree for a boat. She suggests that he cut her down to a stump so he can craft a boat out of her trunk. He unthinkingly does it. At this point in the story, the double-page spread shows a pathetic solitary stump, poignantly cut down to the heart the boy once carved into the tree as a child that said "M.E. + T." "And then the tree was happy... but not really." When there's nothing left of her, the boy returns again as an old man, needing a quiet place to sit and rest. The stump offers up her services, and he sits on it. "And the tree was happy." While the message of this book is unclear (Take and take and take? Give and give and give? Complete self-sacrifice is good? Complete self-sacrifice is infinitely sad?), Silverstein has perhaps deliberately left the book open to interpretation. (All ages) --Karin Snelson

Falling Up

Shel Silverstein

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 65 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

ALWAYS A JOY TO READ. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

To be frank, I get a kick out of Silverstein's work. It is always a bit quirky, always takes a couple of readings to really "get," and is very entertaining while being quite insightful as to human nature. This work is no different from his other works, same quality, same odd way of looking at life, same delightful black and white drawings. Publisher's Weekly got it pretty right here, in their usual, rather snotty way, which is one of the few reviews I have ever agreed with them on. (except their little shot at some of his art that they felt may no be appropriate for kids...obviously the author of that review has never been around kids very much). This work consists of 171 pages of poetry rhymes and drawings. I first read Silverstein in Playboy magazine years and years ago when I wasted my time with such publications. I did not particularly care for him them, but over the years have developed quite a like for his work. I truely love this book and do highly recommend it.

Editorial Review:

Millie McDeevit screamed a scream
So loud it made her eyebrows steam.
She screamed so loud
Her jawbone broke,
Her tongue caught fire,
Her nostrils smoked...

Poor Screamin' Millie is just one of the unforgettable characters in this wondrous new book of poems and drawings by the creator of Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. Here you will also meet Allison Beals and her twenty-five eels; Danny O'Dare, the dancin' bear; the Human Balloon; and Headphone Harold.

So come, wander through the Nose Garden, ride the Little Hoarse, eat in the Strange Restaurant, and let the magic of Shel Silverstein open your eyes and tickle your mind.

A Light in the Attic

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 64 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Last night while I lay thinking here
Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
And pranced and partied all night long
And sang their same old Whatif song:

Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?...

Here in the attic of Shel Silverstein you will find Backward Bill, Sour Face Ann, the Meehoo with an Exactlywatt, and the Polar Bear in the Frigidaire. You will talk with Broiled Face, and find out what happens when Somebody steals your knees, you get caught by the Quick-Digesting Gink, a Mountain snores, and They Put a Brassiere on the Camel.

From the creator of the beloved poetry collections Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up, here is another wondrous book of poems and drawings.

Notable Children's Books of 1981 (ALA)
Best Books of 1981 (SLJ)
Children's Books of 1981 (Library of Congress)
1981 Children's Books (NY Public Library)
1981 USA Children's Books of International Interest
Winner, 1983-84 William Allen White Award (Kansas)
Winner, 1983 Garden State Children's Book Award (New Jersey Library Association)
1984 Garden State Children's Book Award for Non-Fiction (New Jersey Library Association)
1984 George C. Stone Center for Children's Books (Claremont, CA) "Recognition of Merit" Award

A Giraffe and a Half

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Kindergarten class LOVES it! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Read this to my Kindergarten students and before I got halfway through the book they were "helping" me read it! They ask for it often. What better recommendation could there be?!?!?!

a giraffe and a half 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

i neice LOVES this book! a classic for me and now i can pass it on to her...aaahhhh!

A Giraffe And A Half 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Recommended by a teacher and read by a teacher the first time to grandson. High marks and great interaction by grandson who's three.

Great introduction to rhyme and poetry 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I am a preschool teacher for four year olds. There is nothing better than having a group of children completely engaged in a book, laughing over it and finishing my sentences. This book was asked for again and again and is a class favorite. It is a great introduction to rhyme and poetry. I think we all have it almost memorized!

Editorial Review:

If you had a giraffe
and he stretched another half …
you would have a giraffe and a half.

And if you glued a rose
to the tip of his nose …

And … if he put on a shoe
and then stepped in some glue …

And if he used a chair
to comb his hair …

And so it goes until … but that would be telling. Children will be kept in stitches until the very end, when the situation is resolved in the most riotous way possible.

Shel Silverstein's incomparable line drawings add to the hilarity of his wildly funny rhymes.

Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 143 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

quirky yet sentimental 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

let me just say first off (and some of you may boo at me for this) that i am not a big fan of poetry, especially those that don't rhyme, layered with so much metaphor wrapped in some sort of old english language. those of you who can appreciate those, know i'm more than eager to submit in the "im not worthy! im not worthy!" throes. call it barbaric or just plain shallow, but i'd rather stick to the sing-songy rhymes of my elementary days.

now, saying that i absolutely loved Where the Sidewalk Ends should not be construed as a statement that Silverstein's work is shallow. piddling my knowledge might be about bodies of poetry, in whatever form, this one thing i am sure of: that though this book can be read to kids (and [gasp!] can actually be understood and enjoyed by them), it somehow still manages to deliver punchlines that could draw forth a surprised smile or chuckle from an adult--at least those not totally drowning in cynicism or morbid depression. but who knows...

a lot of the poetry here are funny (not outright hilarious, more like plain goofy), and yet come to think of it, still some of those are actually quite sad, with undertones about life and life experiences we take for granted. like the "Snowman", "Invention", "What's in the Sack?", "I Won't Hatch!", "The Garden", "The Little Blue Engine", and even the subtly poignant "Love".

whether you actively seek a moral in any of the poems or just want to go for some light reading, this book (in my opinion) is sure to leave you with a wistful feeling. exactly about what...well, i can't say. but i loved it. and for me that's more than okay.

Editorial Review:

Shel Silverstein shook the staid world of children's poetry in 1974 with the publication of this collection, and things haven't been the same since. More than four and a half million copies of Where the Sidewalk Ends have been sold, making it the bestselling children's poetry book ever. With this and his other poetry collections (A Light in the Attic and Falling Up), Silverstein reveals his genius for reaching kids with silly words and simple pen-and-ink drawings. What child can resist a poem called "Dancing Pants" or "The Dirtiest Man in the World"? Each of the 130 poems is funny in a different way, or touching ... or both. Some approach naughtiness or are a bit disgusting to squeamish grown-ups, but that's exactly what kids like best about Silverstein's work. Jim Trelease, author of The New Read-Aloud Handbook, calls this book "without question, the best-loved collection of poetry for children." (Ages 4 to 10)

The Missing Piece (An Ursula Nordstrom Book)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

for a wedding gift 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a wonderful children's book, but I have given a copy as a wedding gift. It was very well recieved.

Possibly the best book ever written 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

OK, there may be some stiff competetion in terms of "the best book ever written" -but this is one of my favorite books ever written. For some reason it's lesser known than many of the other Shel Silverstein poem books (may adults have never heard of it), but IMHO this one is a MUST READ. Although I like some of the poem books, quite honestly, they aren't my favorite. If you judge this book by them, then you may miss this wonderful story. I don't think that I've read this and haven't been able to get a smile out of any kid or any adult.

Editorial Review:

It was missing a piece.
And it was not happy.
So it set off in search
of its missing piece.
And as it rolled
it sang this song -

Oh I'm lookin' for my missin' piece
I'm lookin' for my missin' piece
Hi-dee-ho, here I go,
Lookin' for my missin' piece.

What it finds on its search for the missing piece is simply and touchingly told in this fable that gently probes the nature of quest and fulfillment.

Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 54 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Taken in dall smoses, this self-proclaimed "billy sook" is a fun-filled new (posthumously published) offering from children's poet Shel Silverstein, creator of Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and other favorites. Completed prior to the poet's death in 1999, Runny Babbit was a work in progress for more than 20 years, and is populated by the likes of Runny Babbit, Toe Jurtle, Ploppy Sig, Polly Dorkupine, and Pilly Belican (who owns the Sharber Bop), all denizens of the green woods where letter-flipping runs rampant. In this madcap world, pea soup is sea poup, Capture the Flag is Fapture the Clag, and snow boots are bow snoots. Each poem incorporates the same kind of switcheroo wordplay found in "Runny's Hew Nobby:" Runny Babbit knearned to lit,/ And made a swat and heater,/ And now he sadly will admit/ He bight have done it metter." (Here, in one of many winningly simple line drawings, R. B. sits knitting one very long sleeve, which is labeled as such.) Children who have some fluency in reading will enjoy this bonsensical nook the most. (Ages 7 to 12) --Karin Snelson

The Missing Piece Meets the Big O

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Special 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

A person who was one of the most influential in my life gave this to me as a gift. After reading the book, the gesture impacted me that much more. I buy this for anyone that means something to me. This type of book should be shared by all. Silverstein is a master who I still feel isn't talked about enough.

Don't forget 'The Missing Piece'!

Darling and meaningful! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I LOVE this book. What a simple way of viewing the process of breakups and of finding meaningful relationships! Great for readers of all ages.

profound 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This was a gift to me after a divorce. The content is simple yet profound and I love to share it with my children in hopes that they too will know that relationships are at their healthiest when people are whole and complete, rather than half of a whole like a friendship necklace (to the chagrin of tweeners everywhere!) ;) I now share this with others who are going through relationship troubles or struggle with their self-worth.

Editorial Review:

The missing piece sat alone
waiting for someone
to come along
and take it somewhere....

The different ones it encounters - and what it discovers in its helplessness - are portrayed with simplicity and compassion in the words and drawings of Shel Silverstein.

The Giving Tree Gift Edition

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

One of the greatest children's books 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This isn't just a great children's book, its a great story. I read this for the first time at age 22 and was deeply touched. I actually bought it for myself, not as a gift. It is a story I want to read to my children one day.

wonderfully simple book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a book that I had as a kid and try to give it to everyone I know with children. The selfless love this tree demonstrates and the little boy who doesn't understand until he is much older, is a wonderful story we should all keep in our hearts

Editorial Review:

"Once there was a tree . . . and she loved a little boy." So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein.

Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk . . . and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave.

This is a tender story, touched with sadness, aglow with consolation. Shel Silverstein has created a moving parable for readers of all ages that offers an affecting interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another's capacity to love in return.