Shel Silverstein

Shel’s Life

• Silverstein was born on November 23, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois

• Shel Silverstein was a composer, an artist, and the author of many books of prose and poetry

• He wan a grammy for his recorded version of “Where The Sidewalk Ends”

• He sold over 1.5 million copies of The Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk Ends.

• He started drawing & writing poetry because

he was an outcast as an adolescent; neither boys nor girls liked him

He died May 11, 1999

Shel’s Works

• Take Ten (1955) • Grab Your Socks!

(1956)• Report From

Practically Nowhere(1960)

• Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back (1963)

• A Giraffe and a Half (1964)

• The Giving Tree (1964)

• Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? (1964)

• Uncle Shelby's Zoo: Don't Bump the Glump! (1964)

• Where The Sidewalk Ends(1974)

• The Missing Piece (1976)

• Different Dances (1976)

• A light In The Attic (1981)

• The Missing Piece Meets The Big O (1981)

• Falling Up (1996)

No Difference

Small as a peanut,Big as a giant,

We’re all the same sizeWhen we turn off the light.

Rich as a sultan,Poor as a mite,

We’re all worth the sameWhen we turn off the light.

Red, black or orange,

Yellow or white,We all look the same

When we turn off the light.So maybe the way

To make everything rightIs for God to just reach out

And turn off the light!

My Sources

www.poets.org

• http://home.mho.net/hott/silverstein.html• http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/6166/

ss/ssbio.html• http://www.pcpartsandpieces.com/books/

bookpages/silverstein/silverstein.html• http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/silverstein.htm “Falling Up” by Shel Silverstein “Where The Sidewalk Ends” By Shel Silverstein