Where the Sidewalk Ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends is another poetry book from Shel Silverstein that is one of my favorite books of all time. This collection of poems was published before Light in the Attic and in my opinion is just a little bit better.

The drawings in this book are exactly the same as Light in the Attic which would be a great thing to point out if doing an author study with the children. The set up and the font of the book is also the same. 

In this book are two of my favorite poems, "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out" and "Sick". I think that both poems can be relatable to children on many different levels.

In "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out" a little girl who refuses to take out the garbage and eventually it reaches "From New York to the Golden Gate" (Silverstein, 71). By the end of the poem she agrees to take out the garbage and by then it is too late and "Poor Sarah met an awful fate," (Silverstein, 71). I think that this poem has such a relatable message that kids enjoy because it deals with doing chores around the house. Kids also love it because of the description of the garbage. When I read it to my kids I get laughter and things like "yuck" and "cool".

The second poem is "Sick". In "Sick" little Peggy Ann McKay is unable to get out of bed to go to school. In the poem she list every ailment she could possibly think of to get out of going to school. By the end of the poem the reader would think Peggy Ann McKay was on her death bed but, [SPOILER] "What's that? What's that you say? You say today is...Saturday? G'bye, I'm out to play!" (Silverstein, 59). I think that the kids can relate to this poem and so can parents.