Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Summary: 

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.

Genre: Poetry

Silverstein's language is condensed and creative, yet easy to understand for children. Illustrations are unique to the artist and better help the reader understand the underlining meaning of the poem. 

Activities: 

Rhyme Time

Because recognizing the subtle changes in sound is a necessity for kids as they learn to read, Shel Silverstein’s poetry is a natural choice to practice these important skills. Read any of his many rhyming poems (e.g., “If the World Was Crazy,” page 46 in Where the Sidewalk Ends, or “Play Ball,” page 131 

in  A Light in the Attic) aloud to children, instructing them to listen for rhyming words. When they hear a pair, they should raise their hands or clap. Check to see if they can repeat the rhyming pair of words. What is the 

repeating sound? What sounds are different between the two words? Can students think of other words that would also rhyme with that pair?

Count on Poetry

As a class, have students count the number of syllables, words, rhymes, or stanzas in any 

pair of poems (e.g., “Eight Balloons,” page 58 in A Light in the Attic and “Eighteen Flavors,” page 116 in Where the Sidewalk Ends). Then graph the results. Repeat the project in pairs or small groups with additional poems.

About the Author: 

Shel Silverstein's very first children's books, Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back was published in 1963, and followed the next year by two other books: The Giving Tree and A Giraffe and a Half. His first collection of poems and drawings, Where the Sidewalk Ends, appeared in 1974, and his second, A Light in the Attic, in 1981. He grew up in Chicago and created his first cartoons for the adult readers of Pacific Stars and Stripes, when he was a G.I. in Japan and Korea in the 1950s. His latest collection, and his last book to be published before he died in 1999, was Falling Up (1996).

Personal Response: 

I personally am a huge fan of Shel Silverstein. I believe he was a very talented and unique individual. His poetry has a lot of underlining themes of self acceptance, which I absolutely love. 

Citation:

Silverstein, S. (2011). Where the sidewalk ends. New York: Penguin Books.