It has been said that in the 1990s, Shel Silverstein wandered in and out of bookstores in Brooklyn, looking so disheveled that customers mistook him for a hobo. Whether this tale is true, it makes for a good story. One of the greatest contemporary figures of children’s literature, Silverstein had a colorful career, first starting out as a cartoonist for Stars & Stripes, the official U.S. Army newspaper, while he was stationed in Japan from 1953-1955 during the Korean War.
In a 1968 interview with that same magazine, he says: “I’ve been drawing all my life and I’ve been writing all my life but not as much I’ve been drawing, because the writing doesn’t seem to wear as thin. I seem to favor now the short things. The things that I can do very quickly in a couple of minutes or an hour. That’s why I like writing children’s books and writing poetry. I can write a poem in 10 minutes. I like writing songs, I can write songs in five or 10 minutes. My concentration seems very short.”
Indeed, Silverstein’s work is characterized by short poems, but he was a prolific writer and a perfectionist. Meeting book editor Ursula Nordstrom in 1963 changed the course of his career. She encouraged him to write for children — a chance he jumped at, and he wrote “Uncle Shelby’s Story of Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back,” which was published that same year, shortly followed by “A Giraffe and Half” and “The Giving Tree.” Today, “The Giving Tree” is still one of the most beloved children’s books of all time.
April is National Poetry Month, so celebrate by reading a poem to your child. Silverstein’s poems are often wacky, sometimes nonsensical, but always, always do they speak directly to the child inside everyone. Here is a poem called “Listen to the Mustn’ts,” from “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” published in 1974 by HarperCollins.
Listen to the Mustn’ts, child,
Listen to the DON’TS
Listen to the SHOULDN’TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me—
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.
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