A Light in the Attic
Last night while I lay thinking here
Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
And pranced and partied all night long
And sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?...
I remember growing up and loving this book. As a matter of fact I still have it in my collection and read it to my daughter who enjoys the poems as well. Shel Silverstein put together this great book that is full of imagination and silliness that kids of all ages can enjoy. In this book, much like his others, Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up, we are introduced to characters like Ticklish Tom, Little Abagail and the Twistable, Turnable Man.
Not only do we get to meet fun characters, but through out the book, Shel Silverstein has little lessons to teach from his writings to help break bad habits. Now whether or not they work is a whole other story but at least we get a good laugh at what happens to his characters for doing things like biting their nails or picking their nose.
I love just about every poem in this book. Mine and my daughters favorite in the book would have to be Bear In There:
There's a Polar Bear
In our Frigidaire--
He likes it 'cause it's cold in there.
With his seat in the meat
And his face in the fish
And his big hairy paws
In the buttery dish,
He's nibbling the noddles,
He's munching the rice,
He's slurping the soda,
He's licking the ice.
And he lest out a roar
If you open the door.
And it gives me a scare
To know he's in there--
That Polary Bear
In our Fridgitydaire.
This book is full of great things that touch on things only your wildest imagination could come up with. I love how he was able to truly keep a kids mind at heart when writing this 169 page book. All the drawings in the book are also created by Shel Silverstein and did a great job incorporating the pictures directly into the poems that he has written. For example in the poem about a snake, the snakes body forms the last line of the short poem. This makes it fun for kids that are learning how to read. They can find words in the pictures that go with the story to make the reading more fun and interactive.
Those that are interested in finding this book to add to your collection for your kids I still see it listed in the Scholastic Book order forms that get sent home periodically. If not, a simple search online should direct you pretty quickly. Places like Amazon and EBay usually will have it for ordering. If not found at one of those places, your best bet would be to find it through the publisher. A Light in the Attic was published by HarperCollins Publishers.
