No National Poetry Month is complete–or any fun, for that matter, without Shel Silverstein.
In fact, if you or your kids think poetry is mushy, gushy, muck, you must read some Silverstein to cure you.

Here is one of his classics from Where the Sidewalk Ends, reprinted with permission at Poets.org

Sick
by Shel Silverstein

“I cannot go to school today,”
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
“I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I’m going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox
And there’s one more–that’s seventeen,
And don’t you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut–my eyes are blue–
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I’m sure that my left leg is broke–
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button’s caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle’s sprained,
My ‘pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow’s bent, my spine ain’t straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is–what?
What’s that? What’s that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G’bye, I’m going out to play!”

These poems were meant to be read aloud. Very young children will respond to the rhyming pattern and the drama in the voice of the reader. Grade and Middle-school kids will enjoy the humor and element of surprise. I hope you and your kids enjoy them!

“>Where the Sidewalk Ends
“>A Light in the Attic
“>The Giving Tree

Practice being a poet using words from Shel Silverstein’s books