Every Thing On It

We may be up in our years, but we've always collected and enjoyed good childrens poetry. We read to our kids and now to our grandchildren. Shel Silverstein was always a favorite and this should put a smile in any heart, young or old.

Years ago, when my kids were small and my (now-ex)-wife was having medical difficulties, I would read another of Shel's books to them at night. Reading this new one brought back all the memories. It's great!--r

I was so excited to find out that there would be a new Shel Silverstein book, and I ordered it as soon as it was published. It is definitely a classic Silverstein, and I received it very quickly so I was able to start enjoying it right away.

What's not to like about Shel Silverstein!! Although he seems to be the George Carlin for children, I think he speaks to me as a grown - up just fine. You cannot argue with his beautiful, creative play on words and his "new" use for words that have been around forever . Love him, love him!!

I heard about this book on NPR, and thought my 6 year old son would like it. He does. I read the long poems, he reads the short ones. The best part is that I like it too. Clever fun/funny poems good for kids and adults.

This book is so much fun. You can use your imagination to take you to places that are far away and fun to go with children. It brings out the child in all of us to share with our children or grandchildren. The thing I like is that it gives you a reason to pretend, and to make up poems or funny expressions of your own and to teach children the joy of using their imagination. It will make you laugh and that's a good place to be.

I bought two copies for my two granddaughters and we read the poems together. I don't know which of us enjoys them more. We each have favorites, but with Silverstein there is something for everyone. He's a jewel!

We truly lost a genius in Shel Silverstein! The man could do it all . . . He excelled in writing, art, AND music. check out the CD: OLD DOGS)!! I'm so grateful for the publication of Every Thing On It.

When our son was young, his favorite books were by Shel Silverstein. So I was delighted to hear that another one had been published. This is not only a fun read for children, but adults laugh out loud reading it also.

We heard it on the radio and he wanted to read it. It is rare that he wants to read poem. So I ordered the book next day. He really enjoyed reading it (because it is funny and engaging) and brought it to his school.

I have collected all the Shel Silverstein books and love them all. Everything On It is a wonderful book and a delight to read aloud to children and adults alike. It will be treasured for years to come.

I used to read Shel Silverstein to my children and now I'm doing the same for my grand children!! The copies I bought were for them and they loved them as much as my kids did!! So happy his family is releasing new books!

Got this for a Christmas gift for my mom, who has Where The Sidewalk Ends and other Shel Silverstein books. they lived up to his reputation for sketches and poems. Terrific. Must have for Shel's fans.

Shel Silverstein still has his whimsical touch and entertaining humor in poetry for children, teens, and adults alike. His drawings, just like his other poem anthologies (A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Falling Up) add just enough character to keep the laughter coming!

I saw that this had come out while out shopping. Came home to check the price on the store. The fact that I was offered free 3-5 day shipping, I ordered it immediately. I grew up with these books and my daughter and I have read the other ones together. Gonna try really hard to save this one for Christmas.

Classic Shel Silverstein;I read it cover to cover. I am a teacher and use Silverstein's poems in my class to share the sheer joy of language. This collection was such a lovely gift to children and older fans of Silverstein.

Purchased this book for a friend's son after hearing about it on NPR. Was almost too good to pass on - my co-workers and I read page after page of wonderful verse before sending it home. It's the first time I've been called and personally thanked for a gift by an 8-year-old!

Purchased this book for a friend's son after hearing about it on NPR. Was almost too good to pass on - my co-workers and I read page after page of wonderful verse before sending it home. It's the first time I've been called and personally thanked for a gift by an 8-year-old!

This was a Christmas gift for my son. He has all but 2 of Shel's books and was speechless when he opened his gift. The book is great and so was the transaction. Quick, correct, and at a fair price.

First of all, I love Shel Silverstein. His other books are GREAT, must haves! However, this one is merely okay. If you're looking to get into Shel Silverstein then you should go pick up one of his books he actually released. This one it seems like it is just a collection of things he wrote and decided against publishing, but now that he's dead and his popularity is rising, the publisher or whoever is in charge of his estate, was just looking to publish anything they had. I'm still glad I have this, but that's only because I love Shel Silverstein so much.

I hope everyone has read Shel Silversteins intriguing and heartwarming poetry before, such as "Where the Sidewalk Ends". If perchance you haven't done so- run, don't walk, and get a copy now! You have a real treat in store for you.

Here is yet another collection, recently unearthed after the authors untimely end in 1999. Where his family is finding these, I'll never know, but I hope they never run out.

We have well over 100 new poems and illustrations, all done in that wonderful and inimitable style we have all come to know and love.

"Although I cannot see your face /
As you flip these poems awhile, /
Somewhere from some far-off place /
I hear you laughing--and I smile."

I hope he does.

"Every Thing On It," published eleven years after Shel Silverstein's death, arrived yesterday. Homework was instantly abandoned. The Girl Who Hates To Read simply had to dive into this collection of 139 poems.

This speaks volumes.

Shel Silverstein's books are said to be for children 9 to 12. Nonsense. We started reading him when The Girl Who Hates To Read was six, and now we have the full collection. Only Roald Dahl comes close --- and he's a distant second.

What is Silverstein's appeal?

Simple: He's not full of the pap that used to pass for children's books. Starting way back in the `60s --- when "Ozzie and Harriet" values were finally starting to wither and die everywhere but in kids' books --- he talked to kids with respect. He thought they were smart. And creative. And they needed to be encouraged, not sedated.

Here's Silverstein's message in 34 words:

"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."

In "Every Thing On It," he goes much further. There are poems about garlic breath and hats and why you start work in a candy store without getting sick if you insist on sampling the merchandise, but he also deal with death. Wow, death! Once said to be an idea terrifying to kids. Here addressed directly. No wonder kids love him.

Compared to Shel Silverstein's great book Where the Sidewalk Ends, this posthumous collection is only worthy of four stars. I liked it, but it is, as others have reported, a bit darker. Some of the poems aren't all that funny -- at least not for little kids. Consider, for example, "Biography":

First he was born,
And then he was warned,
And then he was taught how to swim,
And then he was married,
And then he was buried,
And that's all that happened to him.

I mean, an adult might find it existentially funny, but it's not that great when reading it to a kid, and there are several like this. Again, I like the book, but this one won't make young ones chuckle and laugh out loud as much as his classics do.

Shel Silverstein has a new book out,
I bought it without even think'en,
After all who cares about cost,
With Shel Silverstein's writ'en and ink'en.
But alas I'm sorry to say,
It's not worth the money you'll pay.
It's far from his best,
At times quite a mess.
The poems second rate,
And not worth the wait.
The editors were right to say nay.

To say I am overjoyed is an understatement.

Ever since I was graced by The Giving Tree (thank you, Laura B.) I have sought powerful wisdoms from the simplest of words.

Shel delivers. And each read delivers more and more.

This, a gorgeous collection of his unpublished works, makes for some of the most entertaining reading in the decade+ since Shel lay down to sleep one last time.

"School" reminds us of the mindset of every child at one time or another: "Rain and hail, Cold and snow, Are good excuses not to go"...

"Mustache Mo," doesn't end well (a frequent piece of Silverstein writings).
Mustache Mo of the B. & O.
His mustache grows ten feet or so
It got caught in the wheels below.
Now there's no mustache... And no mo' Mo.

Brilliant!

This soon-to-be classic is as snarky as Go the F**k to Sleep - but you can actually read it out loud to your kids.

It's as beautiful as The Point - and like Nilsson, you can hum along to it forever.

It's as inspiring as Novel Writing Muse - with fewer mouseclicks.

And this book rivals The Little Prince Graphic Novel - as a tool to touch the heart and mind.

I love it. I think it's awesome that Shel's posthumous works could rival his current. But it's true!
Thank you, Miss Publisher, for bringing heart and soul to these pages. For that, we thank you kindly.

I was fully grown when I discovered Shel Silverstein. My oldest daughter brought home Where the Sidewalk Ends from her school library. I don't think she opened the book, but I did, and I've been a huge fan since. My youngest daughter is also a fan. When she was about 9 she made a point of memorizing several of her favorite Silverstein poems. It is this ability to reach some children that makes Shel Silverstein such a unique artist. His passing was a true loss for the country as a whole, but for children specifically.

I've purchased and read Every Thing On It and will be sharing this volume with my granddaughter when she visits. I may even read a poem or two to my now fully grown daughters.

So what if nobody came?
I have all the ice cream and tea,
And I'll laugh with myself,
And I'll dance with myself,
And I'll sing "Happy birthday to me!"

Of course, when you read Silverstein's poems you experience the same lyrical wordplay that he is famous for. These fresh poems continue his legacy of talking to children with respect and at the same time honoring their wonder at the world around them.

I highly recommend Every Thing On It to children (of all ages) everywhere.

Peace to all.

Many curmudgeonly types (myself perhaps included) bemoan the fact that "kids today" aren't required to memorize and recite poetry in school. What they (okay, we) tend to forget is that there is one poet whose works children gladly, almost automatically, memorize and recite, even without the pressures of a school assignment.

That writer, of course, is Shel Silverstein. Who doesn't remember "A Boy Named Sue," "Where the Sidewalk Ends" or "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout"? Much like the powerful cadences and inventive wordplay of Dr. Seuss does for younger kids, Silverstein's bouncy rhythms and quirky, often irreverent humor hit middle graders' sweet spots.

Silverstein, of course, passed away in 1999, but now, after more than a decade, lucky readers are being treated to EVERY THING ON IT, a new, satisfyingly silly collection of his trademark rhymes. The title poem is perfectly chosen, a classic Silverstein ditty that will make long-time readers feel right at home and draw in new ones as well: "I asked for a hot dog / With everything on it / And that was my big mistake," writes the narrator, who finds himself with, among other things, "A flag, and a fiddle, / A frog and a front porch swing."

As in Silverstein's other classic collections such as A LIGHT IN THE ATTIC and WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (whose trim size and design EVERY THING ON IT resembles), an important component of its design and success is the interplay of his poems with his humorous line drawings. Silverstein was a cartoonist as well as a poet, so it's no surprise that some of his poems actually depend on their accompanying drawings for their punch line. In "My Hat," for example, the speaker asks, "Why is it that when I put on my hat, / Everyone just disappears?" Readers will immediately see the reason why: the wide-eyed narrator's hat resembles a fanged head devouring her innocent head. In "Cinderella," a skeptical Prince Charming surveys a six-foot-long glass slipper and thinks to himself, "I don't think / I'll try to find her."

EVERYTHING ON IT is far from a perfect collection of verse. At times, the verses don't scan perfectly smoothly; at others, Silverstein relies on jokes that he has used multiple times in other volumes. That being said, this posthumous work is sure to satisfy readers who love his irreverent, sometimes gross, humor as well as those who embrace his sweeter side (fans of THE GIVING TREE, for example).

The volume's editors chose two particularly poignant short verses to bookend the book, both of which underscore Silverstein's endearing earnestness and remind readers just how much it --- not to mention he --- is missed.

Reviewed by Norah Piehl

I remember when I was a kid (so many long long years ago) how owning an actual Shel Silverstein book was the epitome of coolness. I was a kid who had to check it out from the library, they only had one copy and you couldn't take it home. But I remembered the magic in them.

I got this book for my 8 year old who hated reading and was scoring very low on comprehension. I'm not going to credit this book solely for the massive improvements she's made over the school year (it was one of many tools), but after we'd read through every one of these poems over a dozen time, she asked me if I could get her another book by him. From the girl who would start crying whenever told to do her reading homework. It floored me.

The artwork compliments the poems greatly and the poems vary in length and were easy for her to understand and be able to summarize what the poem was about. The look of dawning on her face as she burst into giggles was priceless. Also they're pretty fun to read/listen to (as an adult) and the vocabulary is varied as well (it's not just small "kids words" by any means!). Very happy with this book and would highly recommend.

*****
"When Shel Silverstein wrote the poem "Years From Now," he seemed to know that one day he'd be gone but that his playful words and images would still be making children happy." --NPR Staff

Generations of Americans have grown up with the poems of Shel Silverstein, a poet and illustrator, playwright, performer, and popular songwriter. Shel has inspired children to dream and venture to imagine beyond human reach, with the help of beautiful poetry and memorable characters. Shel Silverstein, was first and foremost a gifted illustrator and an imaginative cartoonist for his poetry collections: A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and Falling Up. Although I was not introduced to his early works as a kid, his impressive bare art was mesmerizing before I ever knew his name.

Have you ever read a book with everything on it? Silverstein has confessed, "I never planned to write or draw for kids," at the time his popular books were translated into 20 languages, and have sold over 20 million copies! I thought the least is to leave everything in hand (on it) to meditate at the memory of his art and humility. This is a great occasion to review this fine collection of his pen, published twelve years after Shel has departed us in 1999. One hundred and thirty first timer poems and drawings created by the impressive artist and selected by his entourage.

I love his rare imaginative funny poetry:
"I asked for a hot dog, with everything on it,
And that was my big mistake, 'Cause it came with a parrot,
A bee and a bonnet, A wristwatch, a wrench, and a rake.
. . . . . . .
That's the last time I ask, For a hot dog with everything." S.S.

It is simply grand to again glimpse the mind of legendary poet/illustrator Shel Silverstein via "Everything On It." The poems and illustrations are vintage Silverstein: funny, wry, silly, absurd, touching, insightful, and wise. The book is a worthy addition to his previous poetry collections, yet for all its inherent brilliance, it somehow lacks the true magic of the collections that Shel himself oversaw. He was, to Harper-Collins, a meticulous client, selecting, arranging and rearranging poems and illustrations until order, accompaniment, composition, contrast and balance were ideal. HC & Shel's heirs did a fine job, but the overall feel is somehow slightly off, which only underscores the depth of loss we fans of his still feel these many years later over his tragic passing. Still, I would never pass up any collection of Shel Silverstein poems, and despite no one matching his exquisitely fine-tuned genius, I shall continue to buy his posthumous works until the last of the 1,350 or so remaining poems are depleted. There is an old saying, "Next to genius is one's appreciation of it," and the HC team and Silverstein family deserve plaudits for their efforts.

I jumped back into my childhood when I read Silverstein's silly, ridiculous, surreal, grotesque, and poignant collection of poetry published posthumously. Clever, hilarious, and profound, Silverstein's poetry is brilliant in rhyme, meter, form, and style, a playground of childhood imagination, warped reality, burbling details and imagery, play and even sadness. Silverstein is a king of genius, comedic, and even meaningful punch lines/reversals. His poems are completely, utterly charming, sweet, and silly. His simple, line drawings are the perfect accent to his poetry: part childlike dream, part hyperbolic cartoon. Every child, every adult, needs a good healthy dose of Shel Silverstein in their library. Grade: A+

From the delightful and crazy genius of Shel Silverstein comes this wacky collection of poems and drawings. I doubt there has ever been or ever will be another poet that can move audiences the way that he can.

Call me crazy, but I was not expecting this book to be so funny. Weird, yes. But funny? You should know that I laughed the whole way through. So did my kids.

Silverstein's writing is impeccable. His lines flow off the tongue with ease and captivate children and grown ups alike. Often, rhyming books and poetry lack an ease of reading out loud. But the poems in Everything On It rhyme perfectly and flow smoothly, making them easy and fun to read.

Just like his writing, Silverstein's black and white drawings are entertaining and engaging. Often, the picture works with the writing to tell the entire story. His style is easily loved by children. I think that this is because his artwork looks a lot like something a child would draw. They relate to art that looks like it belongs in their world.

Silverstein is a kid that never really grew up. His poems encompass a wide range of crazy subjects including oddly shaped heads, cheating in school, strange salesmen, and obscure shops. The one subject I noticed pop up more than any other was cannibalism. If that is a subject that bothers you, then you probably shouldn't read it. There are monsters, man eating plants, child eating horses, and people eating giants to be found in the pages of this book. If you enjoy the wacky and the weird and are ready to find a book full of laughs, then this is the one for you.

Poems may me small, but they can have a lot of excitement and rhyming. No matter how sham or what kind they are, you get swept up and you just want to read more of them, and if you love poems by Shel Silverstein, you won't be disappointed at all with his posthumous book Every Thing On It.
In this series of never-before published poems, we read about many curious topics like how you probably don't want "everything" on your hot dog, those strange marks on your wall, and how trick or treating was created. There are very interesting characters which include a witch named Walenda, Santa's messy helper and a time negotiator called the Clock Man.
This collection of poems is as fun and sweet as a fresh batch of strawberries. Almost all of them are humorous, whimsical and very unique in their own way. As usual in all of Silverstein's books, the illustrations in this book are very amusing and are sure to make you laugh with satisfaction. Every Thing On It has the same perfect look and feeling as Silverstein's other books such as Where The Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up. Readers will definitely have a wonderful time reading this book full of delightfulness.

Adorable as always! This was a Mother's Day gift as we have, through the years, had Shel Silverstein's books as one of our favorite things to read together. And this book has a lot of 'growing up' things in it so it was especially meaningful.

I LOVE Shel Silverstein. I have "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and "Light in the Attic".
While teaching 1st and 2nd grade, I would read selections from them. The classes loved them. When I saw "Everything on it" I bought it for my 7 year old nephew to read on the plane going home. He loved it. He took it to a quiet place to read in private, then came out to share the poems with us. I was happy to see him enjoying Shel Silverstein's poems and laughing. Just the response I expected. Another generation of Shel Silverstein fans!

Ordered these for our child's first Christmas. Finally read them with him over the summer when he was 4. He loved them! It was very interesting to see which of Sliverstein's jokes he got and which ones when over his head.

Ever since my son and daughter fell in love with Shel thirty years ago I've loved the poems and drawings as much as they have.

It's wonderful in the era of the shoot-'em-dead novel and the creepy movie-star-tells-all blockbuster, that Shel still speaks, long after his departure, to (and for) kids everywhere.

Now I find there are more volumes to come! All I can say is that Shel was truly an original. You could almost say he was the original
Highly Dependable
Buyable Saleable
Always available
Bounceable Shakeable
Almost unbreakable
Twistable Turnable Man.
(From A Light in the Attic (20th Anniversary Edition Book & CD))

Shel Silverstein has done it again. He had written another collection of funny poems about children's lives and imagination. Anyone who is a child or remembers being a child will enjoy an silly yet totally child appropriate humor. Some poems have only 4 lines other fill the page. The drawings help us appreiciate the humor. I recommend it to any child who is old enough to be read to or young enough to remember being a child.

Definitely another excellent addition to our Shel Silverstein collection! I was fortunate enough to be able to enjoy Shel's poems as a child, and I am happy to be able to continue this tradition with my own children. We purchased "EveryThing On It" for Christmas, so far the book is excellent. "The Kid-Eating Land Shark" is a reminder Shel Silverstein was a master at capturing a child's wild imagination, and "Food," hilariously funny for adults, is worth the price of the book.

This is a wonderful book that is long overdue. Silverstein has crafted wonderful books for children (and adults!) in the past and this is just what we all needed at the right time.

The words are crafted masterfully and is definitely entertaining and enlightening, and perfect for the developing child.

Buy this book - you won't regret it!

Shel Silverstein is a literary genius! I grew up on his books. Every work of his is a gigantic hit. Even with this new book, I can open to any page and burst out laughing. Every child should grow up with a copy of all of his masterpieces on their bookshelves.

It's nice to have one last Shel Silverstein children's book, but there's a reason why he never published these poems in his lifetime. They have a feeling of not being quite finished, not up to his usual standards. A really good thing to have if you are a Silverstein fan, but by no means his best work.

My child received this beautiful poetry book from her beloved teacher last year. The poems and illustrations are a true treat! The poems are humorous and the drawings are eye-candy that bring the verses to life. My daughter who is not very fond of reading Loves this book. That being said,I highly recommend this book. It is a perfect gift for educators, parents and children of all ages!

Loved the two earlier books of poetry as a kid, but I've been reading this to my daughter and it doesn't have the same memorable sparkle that I recall from my youth. There are a few gems- the one about Food is great- but there are many dark, sad, and in some cases disturbing works here. When I read it I feel like these are mostly the rejects that didn't make the cut for the early works. I'm going to dig out Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic as comparison, but there is much less to enjoy about Shel Silverstein here.

I think there is a reason why many of these poems weren't published within Shel's lifetime - the quality here just isn't as good as in his other books. There are just too many occasions when my kids and I look at each after one of the poems and ask each other "how did that get in there?"

While its an amazing thing to get another Shel Silverstein book after all this time, I just dont think these were poems that he thought were good enough to be published. Still, it's good fun and I enjoy it. However, it really should only be for Silverstein fans who have exhausted all his other material.

Let me start by saying I love Shel Silverstein. My kids have many of his poems memorized and I find his books delightful... until now. I don't think this book does any service to Silverstein's memory. At best it is lacking, at worst it is disgusting. There is a reason these poems didn't make it into his books while he was alive. Do yourself a favor and pass this one by for ANY of his other books but my suggestion would be Where the Sidewalk Ends, it's wonderful.

I was delighted by this charming book and my two granddaughters loved to color it. I must say if you have coloring children or grandchildren they should love it as much as mine did and as much as they loved Maya & Filippo Make Friends in Auckland (Volume 1) which is a recent discovery of mine. Another great one, I can recommend in this theme is this classic: Oh, the Places You'll Go Pop-Up however just for reading/listening and no coloring. I hope I helped.

I grew up with Shel Silverstein and was saddened when he passed away when I was in Junior High. I was so excited when I found out about this book that was put together by his family members of poems that he had not previously published. This book completed my collection and allowed me to share some of my childhood with my children.

My 8 yr old was giggling as he read some of the poems in the book. He was skipping around, reading poems next to the intriguing artwork. Then he suddenly slammed the book shut and ran to me, doing his best to hold back a look of real fear. My usually quite brave boy shakily said he hopes the book he was reading doesn't give him nightmares. If you've read Elvina, you'll understand why he was so disturbed by the late author's work. Unless our children are so desensitized to gore and Saw-type imaginations that Elvina would pass as entertaining, I would never recommend this collection. As a child, I enjoyed many of Shel Silverstein's books, but this one was not pleasing. Skimming through the rest of the book out of curiosity, I found more unsuitable passages. No wonder these poems weren't included in previous books.

All of Shel Silverstein's books are amazing. I don't really have to say much about that. I kept my "Where The Sidewalk Ends" ever since I was a little girl and I read some of the poems to my 7 year old son one night. He seemed really interested and entertained, which is saying a lot, because it's hard for me to get him to sit still most of the time (he's autistic). So, I got "The Giving Tree" off of his bookshelf and read that to him. He loved it.

I decided to buy some more books and here we are. They were a hit.

This product was in perfect condition and delivered to me unharmed. I'm pleased.

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Bought this as a gift for our 7-year-old granddaughter. Every year we try to buy her a Shel Silverstein book. She hasn't reached that reading level yet where she is able to read it by herself, but her parents enjoy his writings and have fun reading it to her. We all get a kick out of Silverstein's sense of humor.