Where The Sidewalk Ends: The Poems And Drawings Of Shel Silverstein (1974) - Plot & Excerpts
“Where the Sidewalk Ends” is another book of poems from the creative mind of Shel Silverstein, who is the popular author of “A Light in the Attic.” This book details poems about silly people and animals doing crazy activities. Even though this book has some suggestive content, children will easily be delighted in this book for many years. Shel Silverstein has done an awesome job with both illustrating and writing this book of poems. Shel Silverstein’s writing is witty and creative as uses bizarre creatures and humans to summarize each poem in a humorous way. The poem that I thought stood out the most was the poem about Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who refused to take the garbage out and meets a grisly end (even though he never mentions what happened to her) and that poem expresses the moral that it is important to take the garbage out when it is needed and how one must listen to their parents when doing chores. Shel Silverstein’s illustrations are hilarious and crude as he illustrates each character with long limbs and exaggerated expressions and I also love the way that Shel Silverstein puts the illustrations in black and white format which is mostly found in chapters books for both children and adults. Parents should know that there is a great deal of suggestive content in this book mainly revolving around the topic of morbid humor and the topic of God. The two poems that might be the most controversial would be “Ma and God” and “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout would not take the Garbage Out.” In “Ma and God,” the poem talks about how Ma always tells her child to not do bad things, even though God has created the bad things for the child to do. For instance, one passage mentions that mother tells their children to eat their vegetables, but God creates sweets for children to eat. This poem might give children the wrong message about God and parents might want to teach their children about religion before they read them this poem. In “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout would not take the Garbage out,” the garbage overflows the house and eventually the city when Sarah refused to take the garbage out. This poem might worry small children who think that if the garbage overflows their house, then they will meet a tragic fate too. However, the poem merely tries to teach children to obey their parents and parents should try to comfort their children about this poem and the importance of taking the trash out. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is another great classic book of poems from Shel Silverstein and it will surely help engage children into the world of poetry. I would recommend this book for children ages six and up due to the suggestive themes of God and some morbid humor that younger children might not understand.
I am crap at reciting from books. Sure, I know your super-famous opening lines and popular misquotations, but I don't really, like, pause in my reading to note a particularly nice turn of phrase so I can commit it to memory.Which is odd, because I have always had a pretty good memory for the spoken word and, especially, lyrics. When I was little, my parents found this most amusing. They would hear me playing in my bedroom, singing random snatches of commercial jingles and songs from A Prairie Home Companion to myself. Then they would try to make me perform them for guests."Sing the song from the Garrison Keillor tape!" they would say."No," I would respond, suddenly shy."Come on, sing it!" they'd smile. ("He's being shy, he usually sings this all day!")"No, I don't want to," I'd insist."Come on, Joel, sing the song from the tape.""NOOOOO!" I would shout, now in tears."SING IT OR YOU'RE IN TROUBLE!"One of the things they would force me to perform like a trained monkey I liked to recite best was Shel Silverstein poetry. I had a cassette tape of Where the Sidewalk Ends (read by the author) that I listened to over and over, to the point where I had all the timing and inflections down and everything. I still have them memorized.The Crocodile's ToothacheOh, the crocodile went to the dentistand he sat down into the chair.And the dentist said, [jovially] "Now tell me sir, why does it hurt and where?"And the crocodile said,"I'll tell you the truth, I've a terribleterribleache in my tooth!"And he opened his jaws so wide,so wide,the dentist he climbed right inside!And the dentist laughed,[gleefully] "Oh, isn't this fun?"as he pulled the teeth out onebyone.And the crocodile cried, [frantic] "You're hurting me so! Please put down your pliers and let me go!"But the dentist just laughed with a [deep voice] "Ho ho ho!" and said, "I still have 12 to go!Oops, that's the wrong one, I confessbut what's one crocodile toothmore or less?"And then suddenlythe jaws went snap![pause]And the dentist was gone,right off the map.From north, [pause]to south, [pause]to east, [pause]to west, [pause]he leftnofor-ward-ing address.But [long pause]what's one dentist, more or less?FROM MEMORY! It is better if you can hear it. Come by sometime and maybe my parents will force me to perform for you like some kind of sideshow robot freak.Facebook 30 Day Book Challenge Day 7: Book that you can quote/recite.
What do You think about Where The Sidewalk Ends: The Poems And Drawings Of Shel Silverstein (1974)?
I love this book, and it is sad that you never read it as a kid. Since it was in my 2cnd grade class, and I was alowed to read it evry day, I pety you. But I think it's good that you're now reading it, and I envy you because I can't read at my new school. GOD BLESS YA!
—James
There's a polar bear - in the fridgedare - he likes it cuz its cold in there!I wrote a report on this in the 6th grade and I still remember that by heart. That was the year I got braces and Chris N. butted in line when we were coming in from recess and I grabbed his arm and said "No Butting!" and he turned around and punched me in the face. The braces smashed into my lip and it bled so bad! I went to the bathroom with a girlfriend (I can't remember her anymore - isn't that strange?) and she tried to help me clean up and then the bell rang and she went back to class and I had to walk in to class with my bloody face. My teacher looked at me - and I was trying to skulk so quietly in - and he said "Who did that to you?!?!?" and I said Chris N. and he grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him off the ground and slammed him into the wall. He said something like "You don't hit girls!" and took him to the principles office. The funny thing?!?! That weekend I got chicken pox (the second time!) and when I got back they gave me two weeks detention for getting in a fight. (I am so not shitting you.) And when I went to detention - they made me sit in the hall by myself rather than sitting in detention with all the assholes who got busted for real shit. Man I have had the most fucked up life. Huh? Oh. this book rocks. Read it. Read it to your kids. Read it to people you love. And always remember that there IS a polar bear in the frigidare. (I live in Minnesota so that really means something.)
—Jennifer
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 fireFor 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 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'TSListen to the SHOULDN'TSThe IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TSList to the NEVER HAVESThen listen close to me--Anything can happen, child,ANYTHING can be.5 out of 5 stars
—Sabrina
