Shel+Silverstein

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=**Shel Silverstein** = September 25th, 1930- May 10th 1999

 **By: Emma B**.

I picked Shel Silverstein as my notable poet. Besides being an amazing poet, Shel wrote books for children and was a cartoonist. He also wrote music and movies. Growing up, Shel wanted to play baseball like all the other boy's, but he was terrible at it and turned to writing. He soon aspired to be an artist and attended the art institute of Chicago for one year. After this he continued to write and draw and had some of his cartoons published. He then became a cartoonist for Playboy and continued to do this through the 1970's. Shel also wrote some very famous books, most of which were for children. One of his children's books is called The Giving Tree. I will always remember my mom reading me that book. It is a very bittersweet story of a boy and how he uses the tree as he gets older. Shel Silverstein had a very sad personnel life. He had a daughter named Shoshanna with his first wife. His wife died five years after Shanna's birth. At this time Shanna was raised by her Aunt and Uncle, not her father. A interesting fact about her is that she attended the Bryn Mawr School! Sadly, she died at the age of eleven in Baltimore. Silverstein also had a son who was born in 1983, only sixteen years before his fathers death in 1999. Silverstein dedicated one of his books to his son and one to his daughter. Shel Silverstein was a man of many talents. Smart 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! --- Shel Silverstein

**One Inch Tall by Shel Silverstein ** If you were only one inch tall, you'd ride a worm to school. The teardrop of a crying ant would be your swimming pool. A crumb of cake would be a feast And last you seven days at least, A flea would be a frightening beast If you were one inch tall.

If you were only one inch tall, you'd walk beneath the door, And it would take about a month to get down to the store. A bit of fluff would be your bed, You'd swing upon a spider's thread, And wear a thimble on your head If you were one inch tall.

You'd surf across the kitchen sink upon a stick of gum. You couldn't hug your mama, you'd just have to hug her thumb. You'd run from people's feet in fright, To move a pen would take all night, (This poem took fourteen years to write-- 'Cause I'm just one inch tall).