The Unicorn
The unicorn is actually one of the most famous characters in the book, although not everybody is aware of it. The poem titled “The Unicorn” became the lyrics for a song recorded by the Irish Rovers. In 1968, the song made it all the way to number 2 on the Billboard charts on its way to selling 8 million copies.
Paul Bunyan
In a retelling of the tall-tale lumberjack hero, the larger-than-life Paul age to an old man of 90 and decides it’s time to die. Only he finds out that heaven isn’t what he thought it would be and one night he crawls out of his grave to announce that death just isn’t for him.
Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
The tale of the little girl who refused to obey her father’s orders to take the garbage out provides insight into why children continue to find Silverstein’s poems entertaining. Sarah Stout’s refusal to take out the garbage even after it piles higher and higher eventually results in neighbors moving away and friends no longer coming over to play. By the time she finally agrees to take the garbage out, it’s too late and she suffers a terrible fate. That fate, however, remains a mystery as the narrator refuses to divulge her terrible fate.
Jimmy Jet
The fate of young Jimmy Jet, inveterate watcher of TV, is made abundantly clear, however. His TV viewing obsession becomes so powerful that he actually literally turns into a television.
The Long-Haired Boy
The boy with hair so long he is constantly made fun of by everybody until the day he can no longer stand the abuse. Right in the middle of a crying fit, his hair begins to flap ever more powerfully until it lifts him into the air like a helicopter. Suddenly, the long-haired boy every teased has turned into the flying kid who has become the town’s great hero and everyone calls to him to come down so he can be honored. But, still crying, he just keeps flying until nobody can see him anymore.
