Most of us experience days when we are upset, out of sorts, or grumpy. What does one do on such a day? A little self care is always a good place to start, and for me dipping into a book is often the perfect way to counter an unhappy mind and heart. Children experience blah days too and for them a book that is full of giggles and smiles is often just what they need. Packed with funny and wacky poems, today's poetry title is a perfect book to share with a child when he or she is having a hard day.
Everything on it
Everything on it
Shel Silverstein
Poetry
For ages 6 to 8
HarperCollins, 2011, 978-0-06-199816-4
Have you ever ordered a hot dog with everything on it?
Perhaps you have and have experienced a hot dog loaded down with chili and
onions and cheese and relish and…. Perhaps you even liked it. But, what would
you have done if you ended up with a hot dog with literally everything on it?
Everything including a parrot, a rake, a fiddle, and a front porch swing?
Probably you would have refrained from making such an order again.
In this
wonderful collection of poems, there is a little bit of everything. There is the
poem about the person who orders a hot dog with everything on it. Then we hear
from a dentist who invented “trick or treat” so that children could fill their
mouths with all kinds of sweet treats that would, ultimately, lead to them
having to visit the dentist. Rather a clever trick don’t you think?
We also meet a
genie who, instead of granting wishes to the child who opened his magic flask,
is a “meanie.” The genie is the one who tells the child what to do instead of
the other way round, and the poor little girl labors all week long cleaning,
cooking, and washing the genie’s “yucky undies.”
Then there is
the person who has a dreadful disease called lovetobutcants. This is an
affliction that makes it impossible for the person to help put out the garbage
can, carry a bag of groceries, cut grass and hedges, paint, wash dishes, and close
doors. In fact the person cannot do anything that could be considered a chore.
Though the person would “love to join the work,” the disease simply does not
allow it.
There is the
kind of collection that readers can dip into at will. No matter where the
reader begins there is always something on the page that will amuse and
delight. Amusing stories, funny descriptions, and goofy characters fill this
book, and the poems therefore serve as the perfect panacea for a case of the
blues or blahs.
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