Literature Begins Where the Sidewalk Ends

Content: Shel Silverstein

Introduction: Few people actually realize the breadth of Shel Silverstein’s work. He’s primarily remembered for his children’s books like Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Giving Tree, and A Light in the Attic. But his cartoons appeared in Pacific Stars and Stripes while he was in the military, and Playboy published his cartoons for almost 20 years. Do you remember Johnny Cash’s A Boy Named Sue? Shel wrote it. And for those of you who love Newfoundland sea shanties – don’t laugh, I do – Shel also wrote the words that became Great Big Sea’s The Mermaid. So an introduction to Shel Silverstein is really an introduction to poetry, intelligent cartoons, country music, and Newfoundland sea shanties. The sooner the better.

Dream’s Age at Introduction: 5

Reason for That Age: Some might introduce their kids to Silverstein at a younger age, and I have no problems with that. But I think that some of the poems are more appropriate for kids that have a little school experience. And the bittersweet story of The Giving Tree is actually a really sad story. Dream will have lots of questions about it – Why doesn’t the boy feel bad about the tree? Why doesn’t the tree do something about the boy? – and I want him or her to be old enough to appreciate my answer: “Shut up, I’m reading.” (Just kidding.)

What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Ideally, Dream should find the poems silly and laughable. He or she should laugh at them and want me or Alicia to read them over and over again. After hearing The Giving Tree, I hope Dream will think about sacrifice and the people he or she cares about. I also want this to be one of Dream’s many early positive experiences with poetry.

Be content,
John