Currently, I'm in the internship part of an elementary education teachers' program. With that being said, I read quite a bit of children's books; although to be quite honest, I don't need an excuse to read any of them because I love reading all kinds of books. Children books bring out the silly little girl in me and take me back to a time before taxes, bills, and adult headaches. I especially appreciate children's poetry books because they over exaggerate and over dramatize the every day mundane routines and items. They take the ordinary and turn it into an extraordinary and priceless moment of "WOWZA!" One such favorite book of poems for me is 'Where the Sidewalk Ends' by Shel Silverstein. The author leaves me doubled over with hysteria from reading the silly antics, countless bizarre occurrences while still sharing a simple message of truth. Here's some examples of Shel Silverstein's poems.
Smart
by: Shel Silverstein
My dad gave me 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 old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels 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!
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| Shel Silverstein |
My Rules
by: Shel Silverstein
If you want to marry me, here's what you'll have to do:
You must learn how to make a perfect chicken-dumpling stew.
And you must sew my holey socks.
And soothe my troubled mind.
And develop the knack for scratching my back,
And keep my shoes spotlessly shined.
And while I rest you must rake up the leaves,
And when it is hailing and snowing
You must shovel the walk...and be still when I talk,
And-hey-where are you going?
Listen To The MUSTN'TS
by: Shel Silverstein
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.
My kids and I love Shel Silverstein and I remember reading his poems when I was a kid. This was an awesome post, JD! I love that last one and the last line - Anything can happen, child, anything can be. Truer words were never spoken!
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