Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

• Title: Where the Sidewalk Ends 
• Author: Shel Silverstein
• Publishing: HarperCollins. February 18, 2014.
• Synopsis: This book is a collection of children's poems and drawings written by Shel Silverstein. In this collection of over 35 poems, there are silly comedic poems, make believe poems, scary poems, poems that teach lessons as well as scary poems. 
• This book is interesting in that the illustrations are all in black and white, letting the writing speak for itself. The book is a book of poetry so each separate story in the book is written in the format of a poem adding creativity to each story. 
• I personally grew up with this book and the poems inside on it's pages. In particular, I really loved the poem Sick which was on the wall at my doctor's office growing up. I would read it each time I went in for a checkup and it is my favorite poem in the book. What makes this book so amazing is the versatility of it. This collection of poetry has something for every different type of person and is sure to have poems that you will enjoy. I love the fact that Shel Silverstein's poetry in Where The Sidewalk Ends can make you laugh while teaching you a lesson and getting you excited about poetry. This book also does a wonderful job of transporting you into each story and taking you away to a magical world of poetry, which makes it an outstanding book. 
• There are so many different activities and lessons that you can incorporate with this story. You could use these poems as a building block or source of inspiration into getting your students to write their own poems. You could teach lessons on imagery, smilies, metaphors, personification all while using this one book. You could take each story from this book and easily create a creative writing prompt for your students as well. Although I can think of a million different ways to use this book in your teaching, I also found a website on lessonplanet.com that also has many ideas for creating lesson plans based on this Shel Silverstein book: http://www.lessonplanet.com/lesson-plans/where-the-sidewalk-ends/all
• Shel Silverstein also has an amazing website that has free games and activities that can be used in the classroom as well as learning resources such as lesson plans, event kits, and drawing booklets that are perfect for classroom use. His website can be found below: http://www.shelsilverstein.com