Shel Silverstein (1930–1999)
Author of The Giving Tree
About the Author
The most popular current writer of humorous verse for children, Shel Silverstein was born in Chicago, Illinois, has been married and divorced, has one daughter, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. His career includes composing popular songs, drawing cartoons, writing many adult articles show more (several for Playboy), and acting. However, he is best known for his self-illustrated children's poetry. His first such book was Uncle Shelby's Story of Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back (1963), the humorous tale of a lion who turns the tables on hunters. It was followed by The Giving Tree (1964), a story of a parentlike tree that gives endlessly and is endlessly used by its son. Several other such picture books followed, including The Missing Piece (1976), about a circle that goes in search of a missing piece, and its sequel, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O (1981). However, two collections of poetry are probably his best-loved work: Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein (1974), and A Light in the Attic (1981). All of Silverstein's poetry for children employs the language play common to Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. Silverstein is probably the best of the contemporary nonsense poets for children. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Shel Silverstein
Hamlet as Told on the Street 9 copies
Shel Silverstein 4 Book Set- Where the Sidewalk Ends, a Light in the Atic, Falling Up, and Runny Babbit (1974) 6 copies
Uncle Shelby's Scout Handbook 3 copies
I'm Checkin' Out 3 copies
It's the World's Gone Crazy 2 copies
The Guilty Party 2 copies
Uncle Shelby's Kiddie Corner 2 copies
The Smoke-Off 2 copies
Rosalie's Good Eats Cafe 2 copies
My Enemy 2 copies
For What She Had Done 2 copies
Shel Silverstein's 8 Book Set: Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, Lafcadio, The Missing… (1990) 2 copies
The giving tree c.2 1 copy
The giving tree c.1 1 copy
The giving tree c.3 1 copy
Distortion {comic strip} 1 copy
“Sick” 1 copy
The Giving tree 1 copy
Pancake? 1 copy
גותון אל זיתון 1 copy
Snowball 1 copy
Eight Balloons 1 copy
The Enemy 1 copy
The Farmer and the Queen 1 copy
Me and My Giant 1 copy
Jimmy Jet and His TV Set 1 copy
Listen to the Mustn'ts 1 copy
Poems and Drawings 1 copy
Top Cat 1 copy
Unknown Book 10306599 1 copy
For Rachel 1 copy
The Crocodile's Toothache 1 copy
Hippo Sandwich 1 copy
New St. Nick 1 copy
The End 1 copy
The Devil and Billy Markham 1 copy
Associated Works
Good Morning To You, Valentine: Poems For Valentine's Day (1976) — Contributor — 74 copies, 5 reviews
The Village voice reader; a mixed bag from the Greenwich Village newspaper (1963) — Illustrator — 21 copies, 1 review
Tider skal komme : 15 langtidsvarsler : en science fiction-antologi — Contributor — 4 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Silverstein, Shel
- Legal name
- Silverstein, Sheldon Allan
- Other names
- Uncle Shelby
- Birthdate
- 1930-09-25
- Date of death
- 1999-05-10
- Burial location
- Westlawn Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Place of death
- Key West, Florida, USA
- Cause of death
- heart attack
- Places of residence
- Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Sausalito, California, USA (houseboat)
Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA
Greenwich Village, New York, USA
Key West, Florida, USA
Brooklyn, New York, USA - Education
- Chicago Academy of Fine Arts
University of Illinois
Theodore Roosevelt High School
Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University - Occupations
- writer
poet
composer
cartoonist
hot dog seller (Comiskey Park, Chicago, IL, USA)
children's author (show all 8)
song writer
playwright - Relationships
- Nordstrom, Ursula (editor)
- Organizations
- United States Army
- Awards and honors
- Chicago Literary Hall of Fame (2014)
Grammy (1970)
Grammy (1984)
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (2002)
Members
Reviews
My review of the giving tree is that it is a very touching story that offers a perspective on the gift of giving.
I know that this book has received some criticism regarding the tree's destruction of itself to please the boy, but in my mind, this is not a book about the way that everyone must be, but the way that some people are. I think if a person chooses to be this selfless in a relationship with another person, it's a beautiful thing; but everyone does not have to have a relationship like this. Mostly it's just a beautiful story with simple illustrations and enchanting rhythm.
Lists
1960s (1)
Funny Books (1)
1980s (1)
Favourite Books (1)
ORCID Book list (1)
Poetry Corner (2)
Children's Humor (4)
4th Grade Books (3)
1970s (2)
BitLife (2)
Five star books (1)
Childhood books (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 113
- Also by
- 22
- Members
- 75,625
- Popularity
- #165
- Rating
- 4.3
- Reviews
- 2,579
- ISBNs
- 348
- Languages
- 28
- Favorited
- 153
I was really surprised to find that this is the top book of 1974 among Goodreads users, by a very long way (almost twice as many users as second-placed Carrie) because I had never heard of either book or author. It’s an immensely popular short collection of a hundred or so poems, aimed perhaps at the 10-ish age range. I suspect that the use of the word “sidewalk” in the title has made it less appealing to the many countries where that is simply not a word that is used, including where I grew up.
I quite like the title poem despite the peculiar terminology for ‘pavement’. I found most of the other poems much less impressive, more often just framing a smart phrase than digging very deeply into life and experience. I did like the illustrations. I’m struck that Goodreads reviewers, even though so many of them like the book, tend to say that Silverstein’s other collection, A Light in the Attic, is better.… (more)