Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings

Like this amazing book actually needs any more praise showered on it. (Well, it's going to get it anyways, so it had better learn to live with it!) Can anyone say anything negative about this book? (well...other than the book banners, but we all know very well what humongous Delusionals they are.) Anyways, everyone's read this book (and if you haven't, then dear, I really do pity you and your lost childhood) and everyone knows how amazing it is. The second and third and fourth rereads only give you more adorable things to catch. It's funny--when I last read this book, I was much younger, and the poems that made me laugh most were the ones involving nose-picking and the like. Now, some of my reactions were the same, but others were show more completely different. The poem on which the title is based, Where the Sidewalk Ends, is now an amazing, new poem, as is Forgotten Language, which actually had me shed a few tears. But it's not all sentimental. SARAH CYNTHIA SYLVIA STOUT (yes, it has to be capitalized. Just doesn't have the same effect otherwise) is still as laugh-out-loud hilarious as it was when I had to memorize it for an elementary school poetry project. For Sale will still have me half shuddering, half laughing, as I remember my own brother shouting, "Sister for Sale, Sister for Sale!" after reading it. Some are just stories, some are wise outlooks on life. All of them are sure to guide children from a happy childhood into a happy adulthood, and it's one of the most worthwhile reads you'll ever find.

Rating: 5/5 show less

This book is my American childhood. This is every afternoon at school, from kindergarten in 1977 to third grade in 1980, sitting on the floor in a semi-circle around various teachers (respected Mrs Case, beloved Mrs Sobel, unlovely and feared Mrs Baumgartner, glorious, worshipped Mizz Grundy) and hearing all about Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout. I can hear my esteemed 6-year-old colleague Patrick reading "What a Day" in high-pitched, giggling mid-western drawl. I remember feeling so sorry for the Australian kids I met when we returned to Melbourne in 1980. I went into Grade 4 and they'd never heard of [a:Shel Silverstein|435477|Shel Silverstein|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1201029128p2/435477.jpg]! Poor deprived mites. show more They'd got [a:May Gibbs|126595|May Gibbs|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-e0ba3b90c110cd67123d6a850d85373e.png]. Urgh. Give me the subversive Mr Silverstein any day. show less

Is there a better collection of children's poetry than this? It would be hard to imagine. I love how Shel Silverstein never condescends to children. His humor is just funny--not kid funny, and his use of language is smart--not just kid smart. I think kids appreciate that along with the fact that these poems are just GOOD.

Shel Silverstein es el George R.R Martin de la poesía. Conté 12 muertos en este libro de poemas; incluyendo un niño que fue arrojado por un águila a un pozo de agua hirviendo, otro que fue devorado por una boa constrictor, un dentista devorado por un cocodrilo (luego de que dicho dentista torturara al cocodrilo arrancandole los dientes), y un extraño poema acerca de alguien que se comió un bebé.

Y esto es lo que algunos llaman "el mejor libro de poemas para niños jamás escrito", mientras que los canales de televisión infantiles ya no pasan El Coyote y el Correcaminos porque "incita a la violencia".

Pues déjenme decirles yo vi El Coyote y el Correcaminos un montón y mi salud mental no se vio afectada por eso, pero hubiese show more leído esto cuando niña (sobretodo el poema del dentista psicópata torturador) y mis padres aún me estuviesen pagando la terapia psicológica. show less

I really liked this book because I remember reading it when I was younger. I always loved how out-of-the-ordinary some of the poems were. I love to see how Shel Silverstein takes simple ideas and makes them something completely brand new. For example, he took an idea as simple as homework, and then created a whole story about a malfunctioned homework machine in one short poem. With this being said, one of the things I liked about this book was that while some of the poems were crazy, others were relatable. For example, one poem is entitled “Traffic Light”. This poem talks about a light that never turns green, and the people who were stuck at the light just sit there for months waiting for it to turn. While this over exaggerates the show more typical time for a traffic light to change, it is still relatable. Sometimes I’ll sit at a traffic light for five minutes, but it feels like I’ve been waiting for months, just like the people in the poem.
I also like that the author uses varying rhyming schemes for each of his poems. It keeps the book from getting repetitive and boring. Each poem is very individualized and unique. For example, some poems he will alternate stanzas that rhyme, sometimes he will alternate lines that rhyme, and sometimes he will alternate between both methods in one stanza. In addition to the varying rhyming schemes, the author also varies the length of each poem. For example, the poem “Ridiculous Rose” on page 63 is only three lines long. Whereas the poem “Hungry Mungry” on page 160 is a full two pages long. One last thing the author did to make each poem unique is choosing where he placed the poems among the pages and illustrations. One poem was written up the trunk of a tree, while another poem was written in between the twisted legs on a tall man. This creative technique made the poems visually appealing as well as fun to read.
Lastly, I loved how original the illustrations were throughout the book. The illustrator used black and white sketch work to create all of the images. They were drawings I had never seen before. For example, he drew literally what his poems talked about. On one page, he draws a child morphed with a TV. On another page, he draws a man flying a shoe that has wings. The poems and illustrations foster creativity and imagination. Because of this, I think the overall message of these poems is to do as children do. By saying this I mean that we adults should continue to use imagination and creative thinking. Thinking outside of the box is where great ideas come from. I think this timeless collection of poems shows this main idea perfectly. show less

I'd wanted to reread this book since it was mentioned in [b:Inkdeath|2325825|Inkdeath (Inkworld, #3)|Cornelia Funke|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327341991s/2325825.jpg|3897683], though not by name. I grew up reading [a:Shel Silverstein|435477|Shel Silverstein|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1201029128p2/435477.jpg] as I'm sure many others have by now, and the illustrations stick in my memory as clearly as some of the poems. I still wonder about Ickle Me, Pickle Me, and Tickle Me too. The poems are so bizarre.

The rating is a bit biased, as for me I was transported to my childhood with the poetry and pictures. I can recall the basement library where I first heard some of the verses and the time we were meant show more to memorize a poem to recite it to the class. I can remember the cover of the book and how many hours I spent imagining just what the end of the world would look like, with the sidewalk jutting briefly over it.

As far as poetry goes? This is an amusing bit of verses that's pretty good, but not great. The illustrations can be likewise rated. As far as nostalgia goes? It's tops, for me. It's one of those books you'll love if you grow up with it and kind of struggle to understand fully if you didn't... show less

The back cover of the dust jacket to Where the Sidewalk Ends describes Shel Silverstein as the author of The Giving Tree and other books of prose and poetry. The brief bio then goes on to state that Silverstein "writes songs, draws cartoons, plays the guitar, and has a good time".

Ultimately, that's what Where The Sidewalk Ends is about--having a good time. The opening invitation to the book--a poem--encapsulates the feel and the tone of the book:


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!

The sense of playfulness and silliness that is evident in most of Silverstein's show more works for children is ever present in Where the Sidewalk Ends. It's a fun read; it's especially fun read aloud. You just can't help but smile at characters like "Ickle Me", "Pickle Me", and "Tickle Me" or "Sara Cynthia Sylvia Stout Who Would Not Take The Garbage Out". And Silverstein's cartoon drawings to accompany the poem within the text simply bring those poems into a life of their own.

But more than simply reveling in silliness, which is quite an awesome thing to do, "Where the Sidewalk Ends" subtly teaches life lessons, as can be seen in samples such as "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
List to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me--
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be. show less