Every Thing On It

Thursday, May 23, 2013



Every Thing On It
by Shel Silverstein
★★★★★

I was raised on Silverstein’s poetry collections and my well-worm copies of Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light In the Attic, and Falling Up have a permanent spot of my favorites shelf. I even memorized one of his poems (on ice cream flavors) for a junior high speech competition.

So I’ve been looking forward to this one since I found out about it. The posthumously published collection includes some gems. Most are funny, some are sweet and every so often you stumble on one that’s poignant as well.

Here’s my particular favorite…

SPIDER
A spider lives inside my head
Who weaves a strange and wondrous web
Of silken threads and silver strings
To catch all sorts of flying things,
Like crumbs of thoughts and bits of smiles
And specks of dried-up tears,
And dust of dreams that catch and cling
For years and years and years ….

One of the final poems in the book is a bittersweet encouragement to potential poets out there…

WHEN I AM GONE
When I am gone what will you do?
Who will write and draw for you?
Someone smarter–someone new?
Someone better–maybe YOU!

BOTTOM LINE: Silverstein’s poems have a playfulness that makes them fun for readers of all ages. I loved this new book and just like his others, I know I’ll be reading it over and over again in future years.

Image from here

9 comments:

Camilla P. said...

Seems like it's nice, light kind of poetry. I like it :)

Sandy Nawrot said...

I feel like I missed something as a kid by not reading these. Even now, they are pretty popular in my kids' school library when someone is reading to one of the younger classes.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

This sounds very sweet. need to consider it for the baby's collection

The Relentless Reader said...

We have all of his other books and I really ought to pick this one too :) I suppose my kids will think they are too cool to read it now though. Hmm. Well, I can always save it for my future grandkids ;)

Shelley said...

My daughter just checked this out from the library and she's been sharing a few with me. I love it!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Camilla P - It's definitely geared towards kids.

Sandy - They are just so fun! Everyone knows The Giving Tree, but his poetry is much more playful.

Diane - I just got a copy of this off someone's baby shower registry. I think a lot of people who grew up with his work want to share it with their own kids.

Jennifer - It's good for any age!

Shelley - They are so much fun to read aloud!

Bybee said...

I did a post on Shel Silverstein a few years ago. I love his work.

Nikki Steele @ BookPairing.com said...

Aww I love Shel Silverstein! I love that last poem too. I want to have kids someday just so I can read them his poems. :D

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Bybee - I'll have to find that, I do love Shel.

Nikki - I know, right!