Celebrating the Outcast
A study of the biggest fans of Shel Silverstein might well reveal that the kids most drawn to his works are those who suffer from teasing, bullying and other consequences of being an outcast. The poems in this collection are a veritable celebration of the wonders of weirdness. The boy who gets teased into a crying fit because of his extremely longer hair turns into a darker version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in which the physical “deformity” that made him an outcast is the very thing which turns him into a hero except that unlike Rudolph he rejects this hypocrisy by flying away from tormentors forever. Alongside the boy who is now the “flying kid” are other outcast heroes: Dirty Dan, who is perfectly okay with being “The Dirtiest Man in the World” and “Hector the Collector” who sees treasures where others see junk.
The Fantastical
While many of the poems reflect—at least thematically—real world situations and possibilities, a recurring theme is the possibility of the fantastical. A character named Jimmy Jet, for instances, watches so much TV that he literally turns into a television set. Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout’s stubborn refusal to obey her father’s orders to take out the garbage eventually results in that garbage reaching to the sky and stretching from coast to coast. A little girl who doesn’t believe her friend’s claim that his pencil has a magic eraser pays the penalty for her doubt by being erased from existence herself.
Looking at Things from another Perspective
A handful of poems subtly teach younger readers the value of looking at things from a different perspective. The aptly titled “Point of View” suggests that Thanksgiving and Christmas are hardly festive occasions from the turkey’s point of view on the dinner table. “The Land of Happy” is described as a place where jokes are told and songs are sung all day and everyone is happy, but the narrator who has been there ends the poem with his own perspective on a place where laughter and smiles reign: “What a bore.” Meanwhile, “Early Bird” suggests that while getting up early may be ideal advice for the bird, sleeping late is a preferable choice for the worm.
