When Shel Silverstein
died of a heart attack in 1999 at age 68, he left a body of work that
encompassed cartoons, poems, movie scripts, songs, television shows and
miscellaneous stuff that filled in the spaces. His output also spanned adult
and child audiences. It’s hard to imagine any child growing up in the late 20th
Century not having wrapped their mind around Where the Sidewalk Ends, or The
Giving Tree, at the very least.
I’m going to give you a
very small idea of his range, starting with this iconic cartoon he did very
early on for The New Yorker:
And a few short ones
that speak to me right now:
“Listen to the MUSTN’TS”
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.
“Masks”
She had blue skin.
And so did he.
He kept it hid
And so did she.
They searched for blue
Their whole life
through,
Then passed right by—
And never knew.
“Underface”
Underneath my outside
face
There’s a face that none
can see.
A little less smiley,
A little less sure,
But a whole lot more
like me.
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