Where the Sidewalk Ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends is a 1974 children's poetry collection written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. It was published by Harper and Row Publishers. The book's poems address many common childhood concerns and also present purely fanciful stories and imagination inspiring images. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children."[1] Controversial because of profanity and subject matter, the book was banned in many libraries and schools.[2][3]

For other uses, see Where the Sidewalk Ends (disambiguation).
Where the Sidewalk Ends
AuthorShel Silverstein
IllustratorShel Silverstein
Cover artistShel Silverstein
CountryUnited States of America
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's poetry
PublisherHarper & Row
Publication date
1974
Pages309 and Aric

A 30th Anniversary Edition of the book appeared in 2004, and two audio editions (1983 and 2000) are also available.

Contents and editions

The collection contains a series of poems, including the title poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends", as well as illustrations. The author dedicated this book "For Ursula" and gives thanks to Ursula Nordstrom, Barbara Borack, Kadijah Cooper, Dorothy Hagen, Beri Greenwald, Gloria Bressler, and Bill Cole.

In 2004, a special 30th Anniversary Edition was published, which included 12 new poems. The following titles are found only in the 30th Anniversary Edition:

  • The Truth About Turtles
  • Oops!
  • Mr. Grumpledump's Song
  • Naked Hippo
  • Who's Taller?
  • Monsters
  • Weightliftress
  • Don't Tell Me
  • Ten-O-Cycle
  • The Unfunny Jester
  • Open—Close
  • Gorilla

Audio editions

Original album

The audio edition of the book was originally released as an album in 1983, which won the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Recording For Children. The collection is recited, sung, and shouted by Shel Silverstein himself and produced by Ron Haffkine. Released on Columbia/CBS Records, he also performed it at the 1984 Grammy Awards.

The following poems can be heard on the album:

Side A

  • Invitation
  • Eighteen Flavors
  • Melinda Mae
  • Sick
  • Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too
  • Enter This Deserted House
  • Jimmy Jet and His TV Set
  • For Sale
  • Warning
  • The Yipiyuk
  • Crocodile’s Toothache
  • Stone Telling
  • Ridiculous Rose
  • Boa Constrictor
  • Peanut–Butter Sandwich
  • Listen to the Mustn’ts
  • I Will Not Hatch

Side B

  • Hug o’ War
  • Smart
  • The Farmer and the Queen
  • The One Who Stayed
  • No Difference
  • Wild Boar
  • Thumbs
  • Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out - A little girl refuses to take out her house's garbage, and soon, it piles up so much, everyone stays away from her house. By the time she decides to do so, it is already too late, and she ends up meeting a terrible fate that Shel cannot recall (it is implied she was either consumed by the garbage or suffocated by its smell).
  • My Hobby
  • Early Bird
  • Me–Stew
  • Captain Hook
  • With His Mouth Full of Food
  • The Flying Festoon
  • The Silver Fish
  • The Generals
  • The Worst
  • Dreadful
  • My Beard
  • Producer & Director: Ron Haffkine, Keith Cozart
  • Engineer: jb & Danny Mundhenk & Oliver Masciarotte
  • Mastering: Denny Purcell

Recorded at Bullet Recording, Nashville, Blank Tapes, New York, and in Studio D at Criteria Recording in Miami, Florida.

25th anniversary album

In 2000, the album was re-released on cassette and CD for the 25th anniversary of the book. This collection is copyrighted 1984 and 2000 by Sony Music Entertainment Inc. The collection is again recited, sung, and shouted by Shel Silverstein.

The 25th anniversary edition also contains 11 previously unreleased tracks culled from the original master tapes. They are as follows:

  • The Little Blue Engine
  • If I Had a Brontosaurus
  • One Inch Tall
  • Long-Haired Boy
  • Rain
  • True Story
  • Hungry Mungry
  • Standing
  • If The World Was Crazy
  • Hector the Collector
  • Spaghetti

References
  1. National Education Association (2007). "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". Retrieved August 22, 2012.
  2. Margalit, Ruth (2014-11-05). ""The Giving Tree" at Fifty: Sadder Than I Remembered". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  3. Laliberte, Marissa. "20 Books We Bet You Never Knew Were Banned". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
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