If you had a giraffe and he stretched another half …And so it goes until … but that would be telling. Children will be kept in stitches until the very end, when the situation is resolved in the most riotous way possible.
you would have a giraffe and a half.And if you glued a rose to the tip of his nose …
And … if he put on a shoe and then stepped in some glue …
And if he used a chair to comb his hair …
Shel Silverstein’s incomparable line drawings add to the hilarity of his wildly funny rhymes.
Delightfully zany rhymes about a giraffe who accumulates some ridiculous things--like glue on his shoe and a bee on his knee--only to lose them again, one by one. "Infectiously funny . . . a good nonsensical text and illustrations."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.
It's a testament to Silverstein's abilities as a cartoonist and storyteller that he was able to endow such subjects with just the right silliness and humor, endearing him to both children and adults. In collections such as the classic Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up, Silverstein makes poems into page-turners -- aided in no small part by his grungy, whimsical black-and-white drawings. He also displays a tenderhearted understanding for kids' fears and peccadilloes; one poem in A Light in the Attic, for example, all but endorses nailbiting: "It's a nasty habit, but ... I have never ever scratched a single soul."
A lifelong writer and illustrator, Silverstein had been a cartoonist for an army newspaper in Korea in the 1950s, and then a contributor to magazines. Like many succesful writers for children, Silverstein never planned to author children's books. Ironically, his first attempt at the genre -- the book that established the one-time Playboy cartoonist as a school library fixture -- is something of an anomaly in his ouevre: The Giving Tree. This bittersweet story of a tree that ultimately sacrifices itself -- down to the stump -- to the boy she loves over the course of his life was initially rejected by Silverstein's editor. Of course, it has gone on to be a great, if sentimental, success. But it was Where the Sidewalk Ends, Silverstein's straightforward collection of crooked poems, that cemented his place as a must-read for the young and young at heart. Silverstein bristled at comparisons to fellow "nonsense poet" Edward Lear, preferring instead to cite his former teacher, Robert Cosbey, as an influence.
It's worth looking at some of Silverstein's less well-known picture books, such as Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? and Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back, as examples of how funny (and how subversive) Silverstein could be. In Lafcadio, the ultimate anti-hunting story, a lion learns to become such a good marksman that he provides "hunter rugs" for his fellow lions and ends up touring as a celebrity. Lafcadio soon gets bored with his opulent life, and what used to be thrilling no longer is: "This morning I went up and down in the elevator 1,423 times," he cries at one point. "IT'S OLD STUFF!"
In later years, Silverstein turned more attention to dramatic writing. Titles such as The Lady and the Tiger, Wild Life and The Devil and Billy Markham were produced with varying degrees of success, and some are still being staged by small theater groups. Silverstein also wrote a well-received screenplay, Things Change, with pal David Mamet in 1988.
Still, Silverstein's poetry is what remains his most popular contribution. His verse gave kids permission to be a little grown-up for a while, and (just as importantly) let adults experience the not-always-simple perspective of children.
Silverstein wrote several songs. His country-western song "A Boy Named Sue" was a hit for Johnny Cash in 1969. His song for Postcards From the Edge, "I'm Checkin' Out," was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.
Anonymous
Posted June 28, 2000
MY SON LOVED THIS BOOK. WE WOULD READ IT OVER AND OVER AT BEDTIME. HE WOULD GIGGLE AND I LOVED HEARING HIM. SHEL SILVERSTEIN PROVIDED US BOTH WITH QUALITY READING.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 10, 2012
I can't wait to give this to my 7 year old granddaughter for Christmas. She will love the clever rhymes and fantastic pictures and she should be able to read it by herself.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 13, 2010
This is an adorable book. Children love it because of the rhyming and because of the outragous things the giraffe comes across! Just what we would have expected from Shel Silverstein!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Loves2Read2Kids
Posted April 6, 2009
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This is one of my son's favorite books. It is that book that we read when we are feeling happy or the book he chooses when he needs a little pick me up. He has it completely memorized but still loves hearing it over and over again. This book is #1 on my list for making reading fun.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 17, 2009
We have several Shel Silverstein books and love them all. My children love the pictures and the wonderful stories. This particular book is silly, fun and makes you laugh.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 27, 2008
this is an interesting book and many children should read it
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Posted June 11, 2009
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Posted May 28, 2010
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Overview