Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein (25th Anniversary Edition Book & CD)

Silly, silly Shel Silverstein. For more than 25 years, he has taken children exactly where they want to go with poetry: into the world of nonsense and wordplay. Take "Instructions," for example:

If you should ever choose
To bathe an armadillo,
Use one bar of soap
And a whole lot of hope
And seventy-two pads of Brillo.

Is there a moral? A higher meaning? A lesson? Most certainly not--except perhaps in bathing armadillos. The late poet's collection of verse and pen-and-ink drawings, Where the Sidewalk Ends, is the bestselling children's poetry book of all time. Now, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of this literary marvel, a special new edition is available, complete with a CD featuring 10 of his nuttiest poems. The compilation, "recited, sung, and shouted" by Silverstein himself, features highlights from his Grammy Award-winning album, including "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too," "With His Mouth Full of Food," "Crocodile's Toothache," and "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out." No child--or grownup, for that matter--should be without this collection, or its companion, A Light in the Attic. (Ages 5 and older) --Emilie Coulter