National Poetry Month Blog Tour: The Girl's Thoughts on Shel Silverstein

The Girl (age 9) is happy to be part of her Auntie Serena's National Poetry Month Blog Tour.  Here are her thoughts on her favorite poet, Shel Silverstein.

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Shel Silverstein (1930-1999) was a cartoonist and poet known for his children's books, like The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, and Where the Sidewalk Ends.  I love his poems because they are hilarious and fun to read out loud.  Here are my favorites:

CROWDED TUB

There's too many kids in this tub.
There's too many elbows to scrub.
I just washed a behind
That I'm sure wasn't mine,
There's too many kids in this tub.  (from A Light in the Attic, page 86)

JIMMY JET AND HIS TV SET

I'll tell you the story of Jimmy Jet--
And you know what I tell you is true.
He loved to watch his TV set
Almost as much as you.

He watched all day, he watched all night
Till he grew pale and lean,
From "The Early Show" to "The Late Late Show"
And all the shows between.

He watched till his eyes were frozen wide,
And his bottom grew into his chair.
And his chin turned into a tuning dial,
And antennae grew out of his hair.

And his brains turned into TV tubes,
And his face to a TV screen.
And two knobs saying "VERT." and "HORIZ."
Grew where his ears had been.

And he grew a plug that looked like a tail
So we plugged in little Jim.
And now instead of him watching TV
We all sit around and watch him.  (from Where the Sidewalk Ends, pages 28-29)

And my favorite of them ALL:

THE LOSER

Mama said I'd lose my head
If it wasn't fastened on.
Today I guess it wasn't
'Cause while playing with my cousin
It fell off an rolled away
And now it's gone.

And I can't look for it
'Cause my eyes are in it,
And I can't call to it
'Cause my mouth is on it
(Couldn't hear me anyway
'Cause my ears are on it),
Can't even think about it
'Cause my brain is in it.
So I guess I'll sit down
On this rock
And rest for just a minute... (from Where the Sidewalk Ends, page 25)

I love the pictures just as much as the poems because they go together.  In "The Loser," instead of sitting on a rock, he's sitting on his head.  That's hilarious.  Kids and grown-ups will find Shel Silverstein's poems "funny-ish cool."  (I made that up by myself.)

Disclosure: My copies of A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends were gifts.  My mom is an Amazon affiliate.



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