Shel Silverstein Sept.25, 1930-May 10,1999 Born in Chicago, Illinois He is most famous for his children’s poetry. Some of his famous works include, Where the sidewalk ends Falling Up Runny Babbit The giving tree

personal life Shel Silverstein, started drawing cartoons at a young age. He told Publishers Weekly: "When I was a kid—12 to 14, around there— I would much rather have been a good baseball player or a hit with the girls, but I couldn't play ball. I couldn't dance. Luckily, the girls didn't want me. Not much I could do about that. So I started to draw and to write. I was also lucky that I didn't have anybody to copy, be impressed by. I had developed my own style; I was creating before I knew there was a Thurber, a Benchley, a Price and a Steinberg. I never saw their work till I was around 30. By the time I got to where I was attracting girls, I was already into work, and it was more important to me. Not that I wouldn't rather make love, but the work has become a habit."Publishers Weekly ThurberBenchleyPriceSteinberg

He attended college at University of Illinois until he was expelled. Then he attended Chicago college of fine arts and Roosevelt University until he was drafted into the Army. He later said his time in college was a waste and would have been better spent traveling around the world meeting people. He had two children a daughter and a son. His daughter died at age 11, a year later his son was born.

His Career He started out drawing cartoons when he was in the army. They were Published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes. After the military he got a job working for playboy as a cartoonist. Later he was encouraged by his editor Ursula Nordstrom to write children’s poetry. Because he had never studied poetry before he came up with his own style. His best seller to date is The Giving Tree. A story about a boy who is loved by a tree, that sacrifices all she has for his love. (this is my little brothers favorite book. my sister always said it should be called the taking tree).

Other famous works Not only was Shel a famous author and cartoonist, but he was also a famous songwriter and play write. He even won a grammy. Some of his famous songs include “A boy named Sue”, “The cover of the rolling stone” He wrote more than 100 one scene plays.