# Shel Silverstein; Finally, something my nine year old loves **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288 "2011-09-23T02:19:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/1 "2011-09-23T02:19:55Z")
My wife, my eleven year old, and I are all readers. My nine year old thinks books are “boring and stupid.” There is one exception; [Shel Silverstein.](http://www.shelsilverstein.com/play.asp) She thinks his writings are the best ever. Every time she checks out one of his books, I get an over-due notice. I’m going to happily present her with my copy of Where The Sidewalk Ends (when I find it - many books here) because she’s read the library copy cover-to-cover multiple times. We went to the bookstore today, and she picked out two Silverstein books. Who else would she possibly like? I’m looking for other stuff for her, but Shel was so…uniquely Shel that I can’t come up with other authors. Please help. Thanks in advance - DESK ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/2 "2011-09-23T02:25:10Z")
I always liked the Wayside School storied by Louis Sachar. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/3 "2011-09-23T02:30:13Z")
Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book was a favorite for me, if she hasn’t read it yet. Its less of a kids’ book, but nice and subversive. ETA: Wikipedia actually uses that last word. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/4 "2011-09-23T02:45:42Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I always liked the Wayside School storied by Louis Sachar. Thanks. I’ll check him out. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/5 "2011-09-23T04:02:01Z")
[Never Bite A Married Woman On The Thigh](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRLWeUczNFI#t=0m12s) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/6 "2011-09-23T05:09:26Z")
Maybe in some weird way, The Boxcar children, Encyclopedia Brown and the Hardy Boy Mysteries. Maybe some poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/7 "2011-09-23T05:53:36Z")
I’d give _The Little Prince_ a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/8 "2011-09-23T12:37:16Z")
You heard Shel’s got a “new” one? [Amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Every-Thing-Shel-Silverstein/dp/0061998168/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316781320&sr=1-1) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/9 "2011-09-23T15:40:22Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I always liked the Wayside School storied by Louis Sachar. Wow, that’s a blast from the past. Second these books. I loved 'em. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/10 "2011-09-23T16:18:55Z")
I loved National Velvet and Little Women around that age, though I really couldn’t understand either one - the slang, the bits of Victoriana, or even why Jo was seen as such an outlier. So scratch that, I’ll keep thinking…(and jump in here to say when Shel Silverstein passed away and I told my little girl, she broke my heart. “Oh! No more poems, mom, no more poems!” she wailed. I think we both shed a tear that day.) ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/11 "2011-09-23T17:09:33Z")
I would think Dr. Seuss, but maybe she would feel a bit too old for that. Another possibility is Edward Gorey, but some of his stuff might be too adult for her. It’s mostly mock-Victorian Gothic black humor… Maybe you could start with _The Doubtful Guest_, which is relatively mild. Robert Wyatt set _The Doubtful Guest_ to music… maybe not to your taste, but at least [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUIGLMJNoHA) will allow you to see all the text and drawings in their original form, so you can judge what you think of the book. A slightly more twisted tale of his is _[The Beastly Baby.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzJAU3KDIdg)_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/12 "2011-09-23T17:22:00Z")
Edward Gorey might also appeal, though he might be harder to find. Edit: Cross-posted with **cjepson**. And another thought: Have you tried any other poetry? Maybe it’s not Shel’s whimsy or subversiveness, but just the fact that it’s verse. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/13 "2011-09-23T18:41:03Z")
At that age, I enjoyed [Edward Lear.](http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Verse-Other-Nonsense/dp/0142002275/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3) He was a poet from the 19th century who wrote limericks and silly stories and poems (including “The Owl & The Pussycat”). Silly rhymes, made up words, bizarre stories presented semi-seriously… she might dig it. His work is old enough to be public domain, I believe, and you can [browse through it here](http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/learwk.html) and see if she’d like it. Here’s the first verse from [The Jumblies](http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html): > [@](#): > > They went to sea in a Sieve, they did, > In a Sieve they went to sea: > In spite of all their friends could say, > On a winter’s morn, on a stormy day, > In a Sieve they went to sea! > And when the Sieve turned round and round, > And every one cried, ‘You’ll all be drowned!’ > They called aloud, ‘Our Sieve ain’t big, > But we don’t care a button! we don’t care a fig! > In a Sieve we’ll go to sea!’ > Far and few, far and few, > Are the lands where the Jumblies live; > Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, > And they went to sea in a Sieve. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/14 "2011-09-23T18:48:01Z")
Daniel Pinkwater ( [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb\_sb\_ss\_i\_0\_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=pinkwater+daniel&sprefix=pinkwater](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=pinkwater+daniel&sprefix=pinkwater) ) seems to hail from the same–or a similar–weird-but-benevolent universe that Silverstein does. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/15 "2011-09-23T19:07:36Z")
Roald Dahl might also appeal, come to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/16 "2011-09-23T22:36:05Z")
You might try Hillair Belloc–it may be a bit too Victorian for her but I liked **The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts** when I was around that age. > **[Poets' Corner - Hillaire Belloc - Selected Works](https://theotherpages.org/poems/belloc01.html)** > > Selected Works of American poet Walt Whitman ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/17 "2011-09-24T01:44:01Z")
Now I remember - Jack Prelutsky! He’s written a LOT of books for kids. Maybe “A Pizza The Size of the Sun”? (these are funny poems.) ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shel-silverstein-finally-something-my-nine-year-old-loves/597288/18 "2011-09-26T02:31:26Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > At that age, I enjoyed [Edward Lear.](http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Verse-Other-Nonsense/dp/0142002275/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3) He was a poet from the 19th century who wrote limericks and silly stories and poems (including “The Owl & The Pussycat”). Silly rhymes, made up words, bizarre stories presented semi-seriously… she might dig it. > > His work is old enough to be public domain, I believe, and you can [browse through it here](http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/learwk.html) and see if she’d like it. Here’s the first verse from [The Jumblies](http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/jumblies.html): And of all the coincidences, I just heard this on Inspector Lewis, The Mind Has Mountains. **D.E.S.K.Top668** , have you tried your kid on John Bellairs? His [The House With A Clock In Its Walls](http://www.amazon.com/House-Clock-Walls-Lewis-Barnavelt/dp/0142402575/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317004215&sr=8-1) is wonderfully fun and slightly scary.