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dustbunny
He brings back fond memories of youth and rhyme. The Giving Tree was the first book I read that touched me on a personal and emotional level. I remember being thoroughly sad at the end, something that had never occurred to me from reading. ( I was probably 5 or 6) For me, I find his poetry ageless; going back to read them 10 years later I still find the same amount of amusement/entertainment if not more. His poems are still amazing and creative, the illustrations captivating and lively.

topic credit: rebs!
superstitious
Ha! XD

Seriously, The Giving Tree is such inspiration for me and has been since I was little (yeah, back when the earth cooled :P). It's just such a sweet tale.
Teesa
I LOVE HIM! well, loved, since he passed away sad.gif but i agree-the giving tree was one of the few books that i truly remember being sad about at an early age. i think i still have where the sidewalk ends and i also loved a light in the attic. his poetry was always so unique and always made me laugh :)
lkajsfklajskds
OMG.
I LOVE SHEL SILVERSTEIN!

his poems are the best =]
absinthe
omg.gif
I remember being at Barnes and Noble and my mom kept rushing me and I happened to see that The Giving Tree was in the bargain book section and I was reading it and I snapped at her because I wanted to finish it laugh.gif (which I did throb.gif )

A Light in The Attic and Where The Sidewalk Ends are awesome, too.

wub.gif
Insurmountable
I remember the giving tree.

That was such a sweet book.

My favorite was The Missing Piece
The-March-Hare
I LOVED Where The Sidewalk ends...

Lol, I remember reading The Giving Tree to my little brother once when we were kids... Although I always found that book a little depressing...
JokeInsideJoke
my favorite ones are A Light in The Attic and Where The Sidewalk Ends, the poems are so crazy, it makes you wonder what the f**k is going on in this man's mind.
dustbunny
I remember when my first grade teacher told me he had died.

ONE OF MY FAVORITES
QUOTE
The Perfect High

There once was a boy named Gimme-Some-Roy... He was nothin' like me or you,
'cause laying back and getting high was all he cared to do.

As a kid, he sat in the cellar...sniffing airplane glue. And then he smoked banana peels, when that was the thing to do. He tried aspirin in Coca-Cola, he breathed helium on the sly, and his life became an endless search to find the perfect high.

But grass just made him wanna lay back and eat chocolate-chip pizza all night,
and the great things he wrote when he was stoned looked like shit in the morning light.
Speed made him wanna rap all day, reds laid him too far back, Cocaine-Rose was sweet to his nose, but the price nearly broke his back.

He tried PCP, he tried THC, but they never quite did the trick. Poppers nearly blew his heart, mushrooms made him sick. Acid made him see the light, but he couldn't remember it long. Hash was a little too weak, and smack was a lot too strong. Quaaludes made him stumble, booze just made him cry, Then he heard of a cat named Baba Fats who knew of the perfect high.

Now, Baba Fats was a hermit cat...lived high up in Nepal, High on a craggy mountain top, up a sheer and icy wall. "Well, hell!" says Roy, "I'm a healthy boy, and I'll crawl or climb or fly,
Till I find that guru who'll give me the clue as to what's the perfect high."

So out and off goes Gimme-Some-Roy, to the land that knows no time, Up a trail no man could conquer, to a cliff no man could climb. For fourteen years he climbed that cliff...back down again he'd slide . . .
He'd sit and cry, then climb some more, pursuing the perfect high.

Grinding his teeth, coughing blood, aching and shaking and weak, Starving and sore, bleeding and tore, he reaches the mountain peak. And his eyes blink red like a snow-blind wolf, and he snarls the snarl of a rat,
As there in repose, and wearing no clothes, sits the god-like Baba Fats.

"What's happenin', Fats?" says Roy with joy, "I've come to state my biz . . .
I hear you're hip to the perfect trip... Please tell me what it is. "For you can see," says Roy to he, "I'm about to die, So for my last ride, tell me, how can I achieve the perfect high?"

"Well, dog my cats!" says Baba Fats. "Another burned out soul, Who's lookin' for an alchemist to turn his trip to gold. It isn't in a dealer's stash, or on a druggist's shelf... Son, if you would find the perfect high, find it in yourself."

"Why, you jive mother-f**ker!" says Roy, "I climbed through rain and sleet,
I froze three fingers off my hands, and four toes off my feet! I braved the lair of the polar bear, I've tasted the maggot's kiss. Now, you tell me the high is in myself? What kinda shit is this?

My ears, before they froze off," says Roy, "had heard all kindsa crap; But I didn't climb for fourteen years to hear your sophomore rap. And I didn't climb up here to hear that the high is on the natch, So you tell me where the real stuff is, or I'll kill your guru ass!"

"Okay...okay," says Baba Fats, "You're forcin' it outta me... There is a land beyond the sun that's known as Zabolee. A wretched land of stone and sand, where snakes and buzzards scream, And in this devil's garden blooms the mystic Tzutzu tree.

Now, once every ten years it blooms one flower, as white as the Key West sky,
And he who eats of the Tzutzu flower shall know the perfect high. For the rush comes on like a tidal wave...hits like the blazin' sun. And the high? It lasts forever, and the down don't never come.

But, Zabolee Land is ruled by a giant, who stands twelve cubits high, And with eyes of red in his hundred heads, he awaits the passer-by. And you must slay the red-eyed giant, and swim the river of slime, Where the mucous beasts await to feast on those who journey by. And if you slay the giant and beasts, and swim the slimy sea, There's a blood-drinking witch who sharpens her teeth as she guards the Tzutzu tree."

"Well, to hell with your witches and giants," says Roy, "To hell with the beasts of the sea--
Why, as long as the Tzutzu flower still blooms, hope still blooms for me."
And with tears of joy in his sun-blind eyes, he slips the guru a five, And crawls back down the mountainside, pursuing the perfect high.

"Well, that is that," says Baba Fats, sitting back down on his stone, Facing another thousand years of talking to God, alone. "Yes, Lord, it's always the same...old men or bright-eyed youth... It's always easier to sell 'em some shit than it is to tell them the truth."
Amaranthus
I liked the Giving Tree:)
Did you know he lived in the Playboy Mansion for awhile?
Learned that while doing a biography on him.
mizzkewl06
the giving tree was/is one of my favorite books. shel silverstein was such a talented and unique writer. where the sidewalk ends is a classic and if i ever have children i'll make sure to read his books to them.
superstitious
I read from Where the Sidewalk Ends to my son. I read it when I was pregnant even. We still read through it together.
The-March-Hare
Betty that poem is awesome! Lol too funny. Actually read it outloud to myself. For I am cool like that.
datass
i loved the giving tree and the missing piece. they are such inspiring books.
dustbunny
QUOTE(The-March-Hare @ May 19 2008, 04:08 AM) *
Betty that poem is awesome! Lol too funny. Actually read it outloud to myself. For I am cool like that.



poems are so much cooler when read aloud, especially shel's. the rhyming is more evident and in general just kinda brings it to life.

eh I'm beginning to sound like a fifth grade english teacher.."ALRIGHT KIDS! LET'S READ POEMS! TEEHEE" bah.
Tung


HaruHaruko
his poems makes me nostalgic
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