What you may not know about Shel Silverstein ...

A good friend of Levitated Apples and a dedicated bibliophile, HS urges us not to overlook the talents of Shel Silverstein when spotlighting the talents of children's book illustrators.

With typical generosity, she lent us Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" to exemplify the work of the late composer, artist and author.

Note the first of those titles - for the Silverstein best known for his prose, poetry and cartoons was also a composer of considerable merit, responsible for many familiar songs and musical scores.

' A BOY NAMED SUE'? HE WROTE THAT?

In the late 1960s, while developing his skills as an artist and illustrator, Silverstein also became known as a composer and lyricist. His compositions - and this is what you may not know - include such songs as "A Boy Named Sue" (sung by Johnny Cash, 1969), "One's On The Way", "The Unicorn" (sung by the Irish Rovers), "Boa Constrictor", "So Good To So Bad", "Sylvia's Mother" (sung by Dr. Hook, 1972), "The Great Conch Train Robbery", and "Yes, Mr. Rogers".

Albums of Silverstein's songs recorded by others include FREAKIN' AT THE FREAKER'S BALL [Columbia] (1972), SLOPPY SECONDS [Columbia] (1972), DR. HOOK [Columbia] (1972) and BOBBY BARE SINGS LULLABYS, LEGENDS AND LIES (THE SONGS OF SHEL SILVERSTEIN) [RCA Victor] (1973).

'POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE'

Albums of original motion picture scores include Ned Kelly [United Artists] (1970), Who Is Harry Kellerman And Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? [Columbia] (1971), in which Silverstein even played a role, Thieves (1977) and Postcards from the Edge (1996). Other recordings include Drain My Brain [Cadet] Oh, Dirty Feet [Hollis Music] (1968), Shel Silverstein (Songs And Stories) [Casablanca] (1978) and The Great Conch Train Robbery (1980).

Shel Silverstein was born on 25th September, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois, where he enjoyed writing and drawing from an early age.

Encouraged to exploit all his talents, he became a prolific composer, artist, author - gaining fame as the author of numerous books of prose and poetry for young readers.

OVER FORTY YEARS OF ACHIEVEMENT

His prose includes such works as The Giving Tree (1963), Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back (1963), and The Missing Piece (1976), while his popular poetry collections include Where the Sidewalk Ends, which received a Michigan Young Readers Award in 1974, A Light in the Attic, which received a School Library Journal Best Books Award in 1982, and, most recently, Falling Up (HarperCollins, 1996).












Shel Silverstein died in May of 1999.