Rather oddly, there will be two big-name book releases for children coming out next month written by long-dead authors:

Shel Silverstein's Every Thing On It will be released on September 20th. This is the second original book to be published since Silverstein's death twelve years ago, and will feature more than 130 never-before-seen poems and drawings.

Labels: Dr. Seuss, Kids' books, Shel Silverstein, Upcoming Books

While poking around at Seattle's Easy Street Records a few days ago (I was waiting for Bobbby Bare Jr*. to show up), I ran across a pile of Shel Silverstein CDs. Apparently, these recordings were done in the eighties and re-released in 2000. The re-releases feature Silverstein reciting 47 poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends and 39 from The Light in the Attic. The critical responses that I saw described Silverstein as "[possessing] a warm, pleasingly raspy voice not unlike that of Sterling Holloway (the original voice of Disney's animated Winnie-the-Pooh)", and sounding "a little like Emo Phillips reading verse". I'm having some trouble picturing this, so I'm eager to hear the recordings for myself.

*Coincidentally, Bobby Bare Jr. knew Silverstein well, and Silverstein helped him out with several songs.

Labels: Shel Silverstein

-Shel Silverstein

Labels: poetry, Shel Silverstein