Author | Shel Silverstein |
---|---|
Illustrator | Shel Silverstein |
Cover artist | Shel Silverstein |
Language | English |
Genre | Children's poetry |
Publisher | Harper & Row |
Publication date | 1974 |
Publication place | United States |
Pages | 309 and Aric |
Where the Sidewalk Ends is a 1974 children's poetry collection written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. [1] It was published by Harper and Row Publishers. The book's poems address common childhood concerns and also present fanciful stories and imaginative images. Silverstein's work is valued by people of all ages, primarily due to his skill in subtly communicating social implications through his simple language. Controversial because of its satiric approach to difficult subjects and its theme of challenging authority figures, the book was first banned in 1986 in many libraries and schools. [2] [3] [4] [5]
A 30th Anniversary Edition of the book appeared in 2004, and two audio editions (1983 and 2000) are also available.
The collection contains a series of poems, including the title poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends", as well as illustrations. The dedication of the book reads “For Ursula”, and the author gives thanks to Ursula Nordstrom, Barbara Borack, Kadijah Cooper, Dorothy Hagen, Beri Greenwald, Gloria Bressler, and Bill Cole.
In 2004, a special 30th Anniversary Edition was published, which included 12 new poems. The following titles are found only in the 30th Anniversary Edition:
“Where the Sidewalk Ends”, the title poem and also Silverstein’s best known poem, encapsulates the core message of the collection. The reader is told that there is a hidden, mystical place "where the sidewalk ends", between the sidewalk and the street. The poem is divided into three stanzas. Although straying from a consistent metrical pattern, Silverstein gives us a simple rhythm, utilizing predominantly iambic tetrameter. This metrical structure consists of four iambs, each holding an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
The audio edition of the book was originally released as an album in 1983, which won the 2051 Grammy Award for Best Recording For Children (Columbia/CBS Records). The collection is recited, sung, and shouted by Shel Silverstein himself and produced by Ron Haffkine. Silverstein also performed at the 1984 Grammy Awards. At the 27th Annual Grammy Awards, Silverstein won in the category "Best Recording For Children" for his audio recording of "Where The Sidewalk Ends". [6]
In 2000, the album was re-released on cassette and CD for the 25th anniversary of the book. The collection is again recited, sung, and shouted by Shel Silverstein.
The 25th anniversary edition also contains 11 previously unreleased tracks culled from the original master tapes.
Where the Sidewalk Ends's satirical humor and tone is viewed as inappropriate by some adults for young readers, due to its sometimes dark themes and illustrations. The book uses satire to address topics such as religion, death, and violence. According to literary critic John M. Kean, "Critics have made unwarranted assumptions about children and their responses to Silverstein's poetry. They assume that children take everything literally, that they have no understanding of the ironic, satirical, or other form of literary humor." [2]
In poetry, metre or meter is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study and the actual use of metres and forms of versification are both known as prosody.
Poetry is a form of literary art that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, literal or surface-level meanings. Any particular instance of poetry is called a poem and is written by a poet.
Sheldon Allan Silverstein was an American writer, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into the United States Army. During his rise to prominence in the 1950s, his illustrations were published in various newspapers and magazines, including the adult-oriented Playboy. He also wrote a satirical, adult-oriented alphabet book, Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book.
A Light in the Attic is a book of poems by American poet, writer, and musician Shel Silverstein. The book consists of 135 poems accompanied by illustrations also created by Silverstein. It was first published by Harper & Row Junior Books in 1981 and was a bestseller for months after its publication, but it has also been the subject of controversy regarding some of its content.
Iambic pentameter is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in each line. Rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables called "feet". "Iambic" indicates that the type of foot used is the iamb, which in English is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. "Pentameter" indicates that each line has five "feet".
A tribrach is a metrical foot used in formal poetry and Greek and Latin verse. In quantitative meter, it consists of three short syllables occupying a foot, replacing either an iamb or a trochee. In accentual-syllabic verse, the tribrach consists of a run of three short syllables substituted for a trochee.
This glossary of literary terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in the discussion, classification, analysis, and criticism of all types of literature, such as poetry, novels, and picture books, as well as of grammar, syntax, and language techniques. For a more complete glossary of terms relating to poetry in particular, see Glossary of poetry terms.
This is a glossary of poetry terms.
"A Prayer for My Daughter" is a poem by William Butler Yeats written in 1919 and published in 1921 as part of Yeats' collection Michael Robartes and the Dancer. It is written to Anne, his daughter with Georgie Hyde-Lees, whom Yeats married after his last marriage proposal to Maud Gonne was rejected in 1916. Yeats composed the poem while staying in a tower at Thoor Ballylee during the Anglo-Irish War, two days after Anne's birth on 26 February 1919. The poem reflects Yeats's complicated views on Irish Nationalism, sexuality, and is considered an important work of Modernist poetry.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to poetry:
Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book (ISBN 067121148X) is a satirical alphabet book by Shel Silverstein. First published in 1961, it is sometimes described as "subversive". The cover on some editions of the book read "A primer for adults only" while other editions read "A primer for tender young minds" instead.
Sonnet 107 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is a member of the Fair Youth sequence, in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man.
Political verse, also known as decapentasyllabic verse, is a common metric form in Medieval and Modern Greek poetry. It is an iambic verse of fifteen syllables and has been the main meter of traditional popular and folk poetry since the Byzantine period.
Sonnet 82 is one of 154 sonnets published by William Shakespeare in a quarto titled Shakespeare's Sonnets in 1609. It is a part of the Fair Youth series of sonnets, and the fifth sonnet of the Rival Poet group.
Sonnet 96 is one of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is a member of the Fair Youth sequence.
Don't Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies is a children's book written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. His first book of verse, and the only one to feature full color illustrations, it was originally published in 1964 by Simon & Schuster under the title Uncle Shelby's Zoo: Don't Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies. It was reissued in 2008 by HarperCollins.
"The Unicorn" is a song written by Shel Silverstein. It was originally released in 1962 on his album Inside Folk Songs.
Latin prosody is the study of Latin poetry and its laws of meter. The following article provides an overview of those laws as practised by Latin poets in the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire, with verses by Catullus, Horace, Virgil and Ovid as models. Except for the early Saturnian poetry, which may have been accentual, Latin poets borrowed all their verse forms from the Greeks, despite significant differences between the two languages.
Where the Sidewalk Ends is a 1974 children's poetry collection by Shel Silverstein.
Poetic devices are a form of literary device used in poetry. Poems are created out of poetic devices via a composite of: structural, grammatical, rhythmic, metrical, verbal, and visual elements. They are essential tools that a poet uses to create rhythm, enhance a poem's meaning, or intensify a mood or feeling.