Readers thought's
Entry 1-By Jasmine
A sweet poem that can be taken the wrong way.
For today I reached page 60 in the book and my thoughts on it so far is that it
is very funny and entertaining to read but I can see why they did ban the book.
Shel Silverstein not only wrote all the poems in the book but he also drew all
the pictures, now some of the pictures could be questionable considering the way
he drew them. Like in his one poem "Joey" he drew a picture of a boy, now thats
not the bad part the bad thing his he drew a naked boy. He didn't do a full
detailed body but he did give you a look at the boys backside and it could
possible suggest homosexual tendencies that are against some peoples believes. I
personally found the picture to be funny has would other kids including little
ones, but when the parent of that little one is strict with a certain belief
that picture could become a problem. Which leads me to discuss another poem in
the book that may possibly suggest sexual tendencies the poem called Hug O' War.
When you read the poem it comes out as innocent fun but when you look at the possible meaning behind some of the lines in the poem you will see the sexual references. For example, "Where everyone giggles And rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses," now to certain parents or people that overlook these kind of things would agree, saying that this does in fact have sexual acts. If you take a closer look at some of the words used in the poem...giggles, rolls on the rug, kisses you will see that some of these do in fact show somewhat of a sexual reference. Now I'm not saying that, that is what Shel Silverstein wanted people to think when they read this poem but this is what some people would overlook and over analyze to come to that conclusion. But overall I am so far enjoying the book and the pictures that come with it.
is very funny and entertaining to read but I can see why they did ban the book.
Shel Silverstein not only wrote all the poems in the book but he also drew all
the pictures, now some of the pictures could be questionable considering the way
he drew them. Like in his one poem "Joey" he drew a picture of a boy, now thats
not the bad part the bad thing his he drew a naked boy. He didn't do a full
detailed body but he did give you a look at the boys backside and it could
possible suggest homosexual tendencies that are against some peoples believes. I
personally found the picture to be funny has would other kids including little
ones, but when the parent of that little one is strict with a certain belief
that picture could become a problem. Which leads me to discuss another poem in
the book that may possibly suggest sexual tendencies the poem called Hug O' War.
When you read the poem it comes out as innocent fun but when you look at the possible meaning behind some of the lines in the poem you will see the sexual references. For example, "Where everyone giggles And rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses," now to certain parents or people that overlook these kind of things would agree, saying that this does in fact have sexual acts. If you take a closer look at some of the words used in the poem...giggles, rolls on the rug, kisses you will see that some of these do in fact show somewhat of a sexual reference. Now I'm not saying that, that is what Shel Silverstein wanted people to think when they read this poem but this is what some people would overlook and over analyze to come to that conclusion. But overall I am so far enjoying the book and the pictures that come with it.
Entry 2-By Jasmine
He did what he had to do.
For today I read up to page 93 in the book and my thoughts
have not changed, this book continues to make me laugh with all the silly poems.
Now as I was reading the pictures aren't what jumped at me, it was the actual
poem. In the poem "Who" It seemed as though Silverstein was teaching kids that
its okay to lie, I think this because at the end of the poem it says, "Who can
sit and tell lies all night? I might!" Now to a parent they make this to far and
think that the poem is telling their child that its okay to lie when in reality
the child is going to be more focused on being the one who can fly and have
X-ray eyes. What parents don't realize is that Silverstein does
incorporate important messages, like in the poem "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would Not Take The Garbage Out" he is showing kids the consequence of not listen
to your parents when they tell you to do something. But I guess that can't
support his poem "The Unicorn", because in that poem it is sort of making fun of
the creation of Noah's arc. Saying that the reasons why we can not see a
unicorn is because Noah could not get them on the arc in time so he had to leave
them behind, basically meaning that they had died. Some Christians may not like
the way Silverstein used Noah in his poem, even though to us we understood that
he was just messing around and trying to find a way to explain why we can't see
any unicorns. This is not going to stop me from reading this funny poem.
have not changed, this book continues to make me laugh with all the silly poems.
Now as I was reading the pictures aren't what jumped at me, it was the actual
poem. In the poem "Who" It seemed as though Silverstein was teaching kids that
its okay to lie, I think this because at the end of the poem it says, "Who can
sit and tell lies all night? I might!" Now to a parent they make this to far and
think that the poem is telling their child that its okay to lie when in reality
the child is going to be more focused on being the one who can fly and have
X-ray eyes. What parents don't realize is that Silverstein does
incorporate important messages, like in the poem "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would Not Take The Garbage Out" he is showing kids the consequence of not listen
to your parents when they tell you to do something. But I guess that can't
support his poem "The Unicorn", because in that poem it is sort of making fun of
the creation of Noah's arc. Saying that the reasons why we can not see a
unicorn is because Noah could not get them on the arc in time so he had to leave
them behind, basically meaning that they had died. Some Christians may not like
the way Silverstein used Noah in his poem, even though to us we understood that
he was just messing around and trying to find a way to explain why we can't see
any unicorns. This is not going to stop me from reading this funny poem.
Entry 3-By Jasmine
Parents probably didn't like this poem because it seems like there's no love.
For today my reading continued to page 116 and the poems inside continue to
amaze me and keep me fully entertained. The more i read the book the more i
wonder what was going through their heads when they decided to ban/challenge
this book, like there is nothing serious about this book; unless they really
took the time to over analyze every single poem and point out their problems.
Did they even bother to stop and think that a childs mind does not process like
a grownups, so when they read these poems they see them differently than an
adult does. I know I pointed out certain things that may have been the reason
for this book to get banned from schools, but i had to over analyze the meaning
of the poems in order to do that. So that means that these parents take the time
to over analyze the poem they dislike and then when they find out what they
think it means and they dont like it they have to start causing problems by
informing other adults who haven't even had the chance to actually read the book
themselfs. They probably didnt even take the chance to read some of the peoms,
they are actually very entertaining.
amaze me and keep me fully entertained. The more i read the book the more i
wonder what was going through their heads when they decided to ban/challenge
this book, like there is nothing serious about this book; unless they really
took the time to over analyze every single poem and point out their problems.
Did they even bother to stop and think that a childs mind does not process like
a grownups, so when they read these poems they see them differently than an
adult does. I know I pointed out certain things that may have been the reason
for this book to get banned from schools, but i had to over analyze the meaning
of the poems in order to do that. So that means that these parents take the time
to over analyze the poem they dislike and then when they find out what they
think it means and they dont like it they have to start causing problems by
informing other adults who haven't even had the chance to actually read the book
themselfs. They probably didnt even take the chance to read some of the peoms,
they are actually very entertaining.
Entry 4-By Sarah
Banned for ideas of suicide.
Entry 4-By Sarah
So, I've actually read this book several times and these are just my general thoughts on the poems while I read. Jasmine left off on pg 116, so I think that's where I'll start. When you turn the page there's a poem called "Ma and God" and honestly it reminds me of the thought process I had when I was a kid. Because it's about how God gave people fingers, but your mother tells you to use your fork. The poem is all about how Ma and God contradict each other and the last couple lines of the poem are: "And I ain't to smart, but there's one thing for certain-/ Either Ma's wrong or else God is." So this probably raised some problems because people are like, "We can't have children thinking that God could ever be wrong! God is perfect!" But really, this is a relatable poem for children. Because I remember when my mom first read this to me I was just sitting there like, "That's true! They never agree on anything!" and because of that for a time this was my favorite poem, because I related to it well. A little later is the poem, "Me-Stew" about a chef that doesn't have anything to put in his stew so he hops in the pot and hopes that you enjoy him with crackers. Now, people think that this is referencing suicide, and they'll probably say cannibalism, drug use, and undermining religion while they're at because that's what people do. But really, take a step back and put this in a child's perspective, because that's who these poems were written for. They weren't written for grown-ups with their grown-up minds. They were written for children with their children minds. A little kid will read the poem and giggle because it's funny, because that's what it's supposed to be! The last poem that I'll talk about is "The Long-Haired Boy" about a little boy with very long hair, and people pick on him but one day the hair begins to flap and he flies away. As he's flying all of a sudden the people like him, but he just keeps flying and doesn't stop until they can't see him anymore. As a child when I heard this poem, I thought it was great. The sad boy got the power to fly while the mean people were stuck on the ground. Now when I'm older, I still like it, because I understand the message I think that Silverstein was going for. Don't worry about other people and their opinions, be true to yourself because one day it gets better, and you can fly away. But I bet someone read this and thought that the little boy flying away was him dying and going to hevean and the message is to commit suicide when it gets hard.
So, I've actually read this book several times and these are just my general thoughts on the poems while I read. Jasmine left off on pg 116, so I think that's where I'll start. When you turn the page there's a poem called "Ma and God" and honestly it reminds me of the thought process I had when I was a kid. Because it's about how God gave people fingers, but your mother tells you to use your fork. The poem is all about how Ma and God contradict each other and the last couple lines of the poem are: "And I ain't to smart, but there's one thing for certain-/ Either Ma's wrong or else God is." So this probably raised some problems because people are like, "We can't have children thinking that God could ever be wrong! God is perfect!" But really, this is a relatable poem for children. Because I remember when my mom first read this to me I was just sitting there like, "That's true! They never agree on anything!" and because of that for a time this was my favorite poem, because I related to it well. A little later is the poem, "Me-Stew" about a chef that doesn't have anything to put in his stew so he hops in the pot and hopes that you enjoy him with crackers. Now, people think that this is referencing suicide, and they'll probably say cannibalism, drug use, and undermining religion while they're at because that's what people do. But really, take a step back and put this in a child's perspective, because that's who these poems were written for. They weren't written for grown-ups with their grown-up minds. They were written for children with their children minds. A little kid will read the poem and giggle because it's funny, because that's what it's supposed to be! The last poem that I'll talk about is "The Long-Haired Boy" about a little boy with very long hair, and people pick on him but one day the hair begins to flap and he flies away. As he's flying all of a sudden the people like him, but he just keeps flying and doesn't stop until they can't see him anymore. As a child when I heard this poem, I thought it was great. The sad boy got the power to fly while the mean people were stuck on the ground. Now when I'm older, I still like it, because I understand the message I think that Silverstein was going for. Don't worry about other people and their opinions, be true to yourself because one day it gets better, and you can fly away. But I bet someone read this and thought that the little boy flying away was him dying and going to hevean and the message is to commit suicide when it gets hard.
Entry 5-By Sarah
One of the last poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends.
So, today I'm starting with "The Little Blue Engine" which is a lot like the story, "The Little Engine That Could" but in Silverstein's version "THINKING just ain't enough". And it's really not! Just thinking you can won't make you President, won't get you straight A's and won't make you be able to do anything in the world. You have to put in the work. But this realistic veiw of things is probably what upset parents. They want to tell their children that they can be anything that they want to be. But like the poem says, "If the track is tough and the hill is rough,/ THINKING you can just ain't enough!" and when I was a kid I asked my parents if this was true. When they told me it was sure I was sad, I had to start to try and put in work to get where I wanted. Does this mean that the book should be banned? I feel like I learned a good lesson. I'm only going to talk about one other poem for this last entry, because the one before this was so long. This poem is called "My Beard" about a man who doesn't wear any clothes because his beard is so long that he can just wrap it around himself and go down the road. Parents are probably upset because the man is naked. So I ask again to please look at this with a child's persepective!!! I read this book when I babysit a lot and they always ask why he doesn't cut his beard and get some clothes. So children know better than to go and run around naked outside. It's really just written for a child to read and say, "That's silly to run around with no clothes."