A Giraffe and a Half

In time for its 40th anniversary, Shel Silverstein's A Giraffe and a Half now appears with a five-foot, unfolding cardboard giraffe tape measure affixed to the inside back cover. Beginning simply with a giraffe who "stretched another half," the poem snowballs into tumultuous disarray as the creature ends up "with a chair in his hair/ and a snake eating cake" and more. The pages quickly crowd with Silverstein's uproarious ink renderings of the bedlam. Copyright 2004 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

K Up--Several classic tales from Silverstein are celebrating anniversaries, most notably The Giving Tree, still popular at 50. Though this spare but tender allegory for the parent/child relationship still occupies a celebrated place on bookshelves, it's a divisive title, with some critics finding the boy selfish and narcissistic and others even positing that the work represents our destructive relationship with nature. Other new releases employ Silverstein's trademark humor, such as Lafcadio, a laugh-out-loud tale of a sharpshooting lion, now in its 50th year. Dreamers, wishers, liars, hope-ers, pray-ers, and magic bean buyers are in for a treat: Where the Sidewalk Ends, Silverstein's funny, lyrical, and downright bizarre poetry collection, turns 40, and this newest edition contains 12 extra poems. At 50, A Giraffe and a Half and Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? have yet to show their age; these picture books are ridiculous in all the best ways. Finally, meet the Wild Gazite, the Pointy-Peaked Pavarius, and the Long-Necked Preposterous, in Don't Bump the Glump!: And Other Fantasies, Silverstein's first poetry collection--and the only one in full color--whose arresting wordplay and images are wonderfully disconcerting.

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.