Shel Silverstein was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 25 in 1930. He is best known in children's literature for his poetry; however, he was also a cartoonist, composer, lyricist and folksinger. His poem, The Unicorn Song, was recorded by the Irish Rovers. Other hit songs included "A Boy Named Sue" and "The Cover of the Rollin' Stone" for Dr. Hook. He composed the music for the movies, Ned Kelly (1970), Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Such Terrible Things About Me? (1971), and Thieves (1977). He composed music for the film Postcards from the Edge for which he received a nomination for an Academy Award in Music for the song, "I'm Checkin Out."

A man of many talents, he co-wrote the screenplay for the film, Things Change (1988) with David Mamet. Silverstein began his career as a writer and cartoonist for an adult magazine in 1952. He had served as a member of the U.S. military forces in Japan and Korea during the 50s. While in the military, he was a cartoonist for the military newsletter, Pacific Stars and Stripes. In 1980, he produced a new folksong album entitled The Great Conch Train Robbery. His first play, The Lady or the Tiger Show, was produced at the Ensemble Studio Theater's annual festival of one act plays. Silverstein never planned on writing and drawing for children. His friend, Tomi Ungerer, brought him to Ursula Nordstom's office where she convinced him to do children's books.

One of his earliest and most successful books, The Giving Tree, was rejected by editor William Cole. Cole felt that the book fell between adults' and children's literature and would never sell. In Silverstein's eyes, it was a story about two people; one gives and the other takes. Ultimately, both adults and children embraced the book. He hoped that people, no matter what age, could identify with his other books as well.

He won awards for three books: The Michigan Young Readers Award for Where the Sidewalk Ends (1981); a School Library Journal Best Books (1982) for A Light in the Attic, an International Reading Association's Children's Choices Award for The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. A man of many talents, Silverstein wrote to reach out to as many people as he could with his writing. 'I would hope that people, no matter what age, would find something to identify with in my books, pick one up and experience a personal sense of discovery'.

Silverstein's work, which he illustrated himself, is characterized by a deft mixing of the sly and the serious, the macabre and the just plain silly. His wicked, giddy humor is beloved by countless adults as well as by children. He died in May 1999.

Bibliography

Fiction
The Giving Tree (1963)
Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back (1963)
The Missing Piece (1976)

Poetry Collections
Runny Babbit
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974)
A Light in the Attic (1982)
Falling Up (1996)