In 1964 Shel Silverstein was a uniquely prolific and productive writer of children’s books. On the heels of his first such book published a year earlier, 1964 saw the publication of four books for his juvenile audience including perennial best-seller The Giving Tree. And then for the decade…nothing.
That ten-year drought came to an end with the publication of Where the Sidewalk Ends and its immediately success catapulted Silverstein to the top ranks of children’s writer. This book of poems many compared to Dr. Seuss would be followed by such titles familiar to many parents of young kids including The Missing Piece and A Light in the Attic.
Both written and illustrated by Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends is comprised of 117 poems (with an additional dozen included in the 30th Anniversary Edition) that range from a few lines to a few pages in length. The content ranges from narrative poems which follow a fully developed plot to nonsense verse. Subjects range from adolescent worries to satirical character sketches to adventure heroes.
And audio version of the book was released as a record in 1983 and went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children the following year. The recitations are performed primarily by Silverstein himself.
In addition to being a popular text in elementary school classrooms, Where the Sidewalk Ends has found its way into the curricula of both high school and college-level poetry classes. Silverstein’s revisionist take on “Paul Bunyan” has been proven particularly useful in comparative literature classes as an unconventional alternative to the traditional versions of the tall-tale folk hero.
