Where the Sidewalk Ends

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

Where the Sidewalk Ends

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!

By, Shel Silverstein

Where the Sidewalk Ends

‘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

Where the Sidewalk Ends

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.