shel silverstein a light in the attic poem list

Old Dogs: (Clockwise from bottom left) Shel Silverstein, Bobby Bare, Mel Tillis, Jerry Reed, and Waylon Jennings With his next collection of poems and drawings, A Light in the Attic, published in 1981, Shel asked his readers to put something silly in the world, not be discouraged by the Whatifs, and turn on a light in the attic. This was followed by The Missing Piece, published in 1976, and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, published in 1981-two companion fables that explore the concept of fulfillment. Shel invited children to dream and dare to imagine the impossible, from a hippopotamus sandwich to the longest nose in the world to eighteen flavors of ice cream to Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who would not take the garbage out. If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fireįor we have some flax-golden tales to spin. It opens with this Invitation:Ī hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer.

Shel’s second collection of poems and drawings, Where the Sidewalk Ends, was published in 1974. Shel combined his unique imagination and bold brand of humor in this collection of silly and scary creatures.

The fourth book in 1964 was Uncle Shelby’s Zoo: Don’t Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies, Shel’s only book illustrated in full color. Is how it starts, and the laughter builds to the most riotous ending possible. You don’t have to laugh it up even if most of my stuff is humorous.” Shel returned to humor that same year with Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? and A Giraffe and a Half She even let him keep the sad ending, Shel remembered, “because life, you know, has pretty sad endings. It took Shel four years before Ursula Nordstrom, the legendary Harper & Row editor, decided to publish it. Others felt that the book fell between adult and children’s literature and wouldn’t be popular. one publisher said it was too short.” Some thought it was too sad. “Everybody loved it, they were touched by it, they would read it and cry and say it was beautiful. In an interview published in the Chicago Tribune in 1964, Shel talked about the difficult time he had trying to get the book published. The first, The Giving Tree, is a moving story about the love of a tree for a boy. It was followed the next year by four new books. It’s funny and sad and has made readers laugh and think ever since it was published in 1963. a story about a very strange lion-in fact, the strangest lion I have ever met.” So begins Shel Silverstein’s very first children’s book, Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back.

Shel silverstein a light in the attic poem list