When was shel silverstein son born

Poems for Kids. Poetry for Teens. Lesson Plans. Resources for Teachers. Academy of American Poets. American Poets Magazine.

Poets Search more than 3, biographies of contemporary and classic poets. Shel Silverstein — Photo credit: Larry Moyer. Academy of American Poets Educator Newsletter. Teach This Poem. 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! 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.

This was followed by The Missing Piece, published in , and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, published in —two companion fables that explore the concept of fulfillment. With his next collection of poems and drawings, A Light in the Attic, published in , 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.

He urged readers to catch the moon or invite a dinosaur to dinner—to have fun! Yet Shel did not set out to write and draw for children. I would much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls. She convinced him that he could do children's books. His extremely successful book, The Giving Tree , impressed both children and adults in classrooms and churches, and it brought Silverstein his first widespread fame. He wanted to reach out to as many people as possible with his writing, and he hoped that people of all ages would be able to identify with his books.

Shel says about The Giving Tree : "Because life, you know, has pretty sad endings. You don't have to laugh it up even if most of my stuff is humorous. To say there is more than one interpretation of Silverstein's work is an understatement. Some believe it is simply amusing and fun; others contend that the silliness hides deeper symbolism. That symbolism has been classified by some as educational; by others as harmful to children. He continued publishing successful children's books, along with his extremely popular children's poetry collections, many of which also contain his own illustrations.

His first collection of poems, Where the Sidewalk Ends, was published in A Light in the Attic followed it in Both books were on the New York Times Bestseller List for extended periods of time, and they continue to be popular today among children and adults. He pub lished a third collection of poems called Falling Up in The quirky Shel Silverstein has written a number of beloved and memorable poetry books.