When it comes to kids books, this one is one of my kids’ favorites.
‘Smart’
“My Dad gave me a one dollar bill
‘Cause I’m his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
‘Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes–I guess he don’t know
That three is more than two!
Just then, along came blind Bates
And just ’cause he can’t see
He gave me four nickles for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!
And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head–
Too proud of me to speak!
By, Shel Silverstein
This is one of my 10-year-old daughter’s favorite poems in the book Where the Sidewalk Ends. I like this one too, it shows the sweet logic of a child. She brought the book home from school yesterday. Her teacher wants her to recite one of the poems in front of her fourth grade class.
I remember when I was in Elementary School, I loved this book. My favorite poem was “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would not take the Garbage Out”. It’s about a little girl who, of course would not take out the garbage, and what happens as a result, so funny… so creative. I am glad books like this are still around for my children to read.
As an adult, I have different favorites, here are two:
‘Invitation’
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…
If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!
By, Shel Silverstein
‘Early Bird’
Oh, if you’re a bird, be an early bird
And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.
If you’re a bird, be an early bird–
But if you’re a worm, sleep late.
By, Shel Silverstein
This is the one my daughter is memorizing to recite in front of her class. She took one of her shoes and put 3 of her small dolls in to it to represent Ickle Me, Pickle Me, and Tickle Me Too. The doll in the rear of the shoe is holding a tray of coffee and mulligan stew.
‘Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too’
Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too
Went for a ride in a flying shoe.
“Hooray!”
“What Fun!”
“It’s time we flew!”
Said Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too.
Ickle was captain, and Pickle was crew
And Tickle served coffee and mulligan stew
As higher
And higher
And higher they flew,
Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too.
Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too,
Over the sun and beyond the blue.
“Hold on!”
“Stay in!”
“I hope we do!”
Cried Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too.
Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too
Never returned to the world they knew,
And nobody
Knows what’s
Happened to
Dear Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too.
By, Shel Silverstein