Where the Sidewalk Ends
Shel Silverstein's illustrated collection ranges from short verbal jokes to narrative poems and unsettling comic reversals.
- First published
- 1974
- Reading stage
- For older children
Reading this with your child
Sample the collection instead of reading straight through
The poems vary in length, tone and difficulty. Choose two or three, reread one that depends on sound, and let the child browse for a drawing that invites the next selection.
The drawing can deliver part of the ending
Silverstein's sparse black-and-white art often changes how a poem's last idea lands. Pause before explaining a joke and ask what the illustration confirms, contradicts or leaves out.
Preview for tone, not only vocabulary
Some pieces use exaggeration, disobedience, bodily comedy or dark outcomes. A poem that delights one child may trouble another, so the collection rewards adult selection more than a blanket age promise.
Compare before choosing: Choose Sidewalk for a varied dip-in poetry collection; choose The Missing Piece for one sustained illustrated fable and a longer discussion about pursuit and change. View the comparison title →
The Missing Piece
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great
How to Eat Fried Worms