Shel Silverstein's Poems Trivia Quiz

Answer: eat her food

Here's the text of "Ridiculous Rose". It appeared in Shel Silverstein's 1974 book "Where the Sidewalk Ends".

"Her mama said, 'Don't eat with your fingers.'
'OK,' said Ridiculous Rose,
So she ate with her toes!"

However, one does wonder what food was Rose eating. Was it something like an apple, which would be reasonable to eat with one's fingers or was it something like mashed potatoes, which may be messy when eating with one's fingers? In either case, Rose's mom might be disappointed even if Rose followed her instructions (maybe a bit too literally).

Answer: his shoulder became a shelf for the V.C.R.

"Jimmy Jet And His T.V. Set" appeared in the 1974 collection "Where the Sidewalk Ends". These are the relevant verses of the poem:

"He watched till his eyes were frozen wide,
And his bottom grew into his chair.
And his chin turned into a tuning dial,
And antennae grew out of his hair.

And his brains turned into TV tubes,
And his face to a TV screen."

The poem concludes with the family watching Jimmy like a television since he has grown a plug-like tail and can be "plugged in". Were Shel Silverstein alive in the 21st century (he died in 1999), he may very well have had Jimmy turn into a smart phone or cellphone since many people find themselves staring at those "screens" for hours on end.

Answer: not getting a pony

"Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony" appeared in the 1981 book "A Light in the Attic". Here are the relevant lines:

"And Abigail felt so bad
That when she got home she went to bed,
And she couldn't eat,
And she couldn't sleep,
And her heart was broken,
And she DID die-
All because of a pony
That her parents wouldn't buy."

What to say about this poem? I suppose Abigail proved her point that not getting the pony would lead to her dying of a broken heart This seems like cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. I think I'd rather be alive even if I didn't have the pony. In the poem, Abigail's parent's offer to get her a butter pecan ice cream cone instead of the pony. According to YouGov Omnibus, butter pecan is the third most popular (11%) ice cream flavor, after chocolate and vanilla.

Answer: A crying and spying young sister

"A Sister For Sale" appeared in "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1974). The important lines of the poem are as follows:

"One sister for sale!
One sister for sale!
One crying and spying young sister for sale!"

If he is really trying to get rid of his sister, the narrator is not too bright, describing his sister as "crying and spying". It's no wonder that he can not unload her for any price from a dollar to a cent. If, however, he is simply trying to scare his sister, he does accomplish that. Shel Silverstein's illustration that accompanies the poem is particularly poignant. Sitting on a platform behind the brother is the significantly younger sister. While the angle and her mass of hair prevents us from seeing much of her face, we can see a (genuine) tear trickling down.

Answer: I love you

"Deaf Donald" appeared in "A Light in the Attic" (1981). Interestingly, the illustration of Donald making the signs for "I", "love", and "you" are built into the body of the poem. The relevant lines are these:

"And she left for ever so she never knew
That [pictures here] means I love you."

This is another bittersweet poem. Sue seems to also have feelings for Donald at the start of the poem. She doesn't necessarily lose those feelings but decides that he wasn't interested. How well does she know him, though, if she doesn't realize he uses sign language. I wonder how many children who read the poem realized that his gestures meant "I love you" before the end of the poem.

Answer: 25

"Allison Beals and her 25 Eels" comes from "Falling Up" (1996), the last book of poems by Shel Silverstein published during his lifetime. It only takes one line to answer this question:

"Allison Beals had twenty-five eels"

Allison uses the eels in a variety of ways, with individual ones serving as a belt, a hula hoop, skateboard wheels, and a baton. She seems to have a good rapport with the eels if she can convince them to do all of these jobs.

Answer: Falling Up

The poem "Dancin' in the Rain" appeared in "Falling Up". The poem is short enough to be quoted in full:

"So what if it drizzles
And dribbled and drips?
I'll splash n the garden,
I'll dance on the roof.
Let it rain on my skin,
It can't get in--
I'm waterproof."

The poem describes an unnamed narrator who enjoys playing in the rain, in part because s/he has waterproof skin.

"The Giving Tree" (1964) is a story in prose rather than a poem. Opinions are divided as to whether the tree is showing selfless love to the boy through giving of itself (fruit, branches, etc.) or if the relationship between the boy and the tree is abusive as the boy takes so much from the tree that it is largely destroyed by the end.

Answer: from New York to the Golden Gate

"Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out" appeared on Shel Silverstein's 1972 album "Freakin' at the Freakers Ball" (he wrote both music and lyrics) before appearing in "Where the Sidewalk Ends". Near the end of the song/poem, we finally find out how far the garbage stretched.

"And finally, Sarah Cynthia Stout said
'OK, I'll take the garbage out!'
But then, of course, it was too late
The garbage reached across the state
From New York to the Golden Gate
And there, in the garbage she did hate."

I do have a question about this poem, however. We know that Sarah is not alone in the house, as at least her father is mentioned. She is performing a number of other chores--she is described as preparing food and cleaning. Why is she the only one who is capable of taking out the trash? Surely someone else--her father or perhaps another individual could do it. I suppose that they are making a point and Sarah has negative consequences for her inactions, but aren't the others in the house also suffering these consequences?

Answer: bagpipe

"The Bagpipe Who Didn't Say No" appears in "Where the Sidewalk Ends". In addition to appearing in the title, the bagpipe is named several times in the poem, including this:

"Said the turtle to his darling, 'Please excuse me if I stare,
But you have the plaidest skin, dear,
And you have the strangest hair.
If I begged you pretty please, love,
Could I give you just one squeeze, love?'
And the bagpipe didn't say no."

The bagpipe is mentioned in the title of the poem and several times in the body of the poem. Not only did the bagpipe not say no, but it did not say anything other than "aaooga" (when it was squeezed).

Answer: toes

The poem "Bandaids" originally appeared in the 1974 book "Where the Sidewalk Ends". Here are the relevant lines of the poem:

"Three on my elbow, and nine on my toes.
Two on my wrist, and one on my ankle,
One on my chin, and one on my thigh,
Four on my belly, and five on my bottom."


If the narrator has a different band-aid on each toe, which toe doesn't have one? The irony of the poem is that, although the narrator has dozens of band-aids on his/her body, none of them are actually covering a cut or sore.

Answer: flowers, caterpillars, starlings, houseflies, crickets, and snow flakes

"Forgotten Languages" appeared in "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1974). It's a relatively short poem but most of it needs to be quoted to show the answer:

Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . ."

Some have argued that "Forgotten Languages" is about not losing your sense of wonder. The theme of "hidden languages" or "forgotten languages" has appeared in a number of stories and songs.

Answer: the mother's back is apparently broken

"SIdewalking", which appears in "Falling Up" (1996), is a short enough poem that it can be quoted in full to explain this question:

"They say if you step on a crack,
You will break your mother's back.
But that's just silly, ha-ha-ha- -
Oops- - Plop- - Sorry, Ma."

"Sidewalking" seems to be based on the superstition that stepping on a crack in the sidewalk will result in breaking one's mother's back. Of course, the poem does not actually say that the narrator's mother's back was broken - the reader just assumes it.

Answer: candy

"Little Pig's Treat" appeared in the book "Falling Up" (1996). This poem is short enough to quote in full:

Said the pig to his pop,
'There's the candy shop.
Oh, please let's go inside.
And I promise I won't
Make a kid of myself
If you give me a people-back ride.'"

I have to agree with the pig here. Of these options, I think the candy would be the best treat. In an interesting twist, he puts "kid/people" references where we would usually reference pigs.

Answer: a star

"The Tongue Sticker-Outer" appeared in "EveryThing On It" (2011). Here are the pertinent lines:

"A boy stuck out his tongue so far,
It reached the heavens and touched a star."

"EveryThing On It" was published over a decade after Shel Silverstein's death. It consists of poems that had not been published before. While all of these objects would have been far away from the boy, a star other than the sun would have been trillions of miles away. (Even the sun would have been 93 million miles away.)

Answer: The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)

In addition to being a songwriter and poet, he was a writer, playwright and cartoonist. Here are some lyrics from the three songs that are his::

"There was green alligators and long-necked geese,
Some humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees,
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born,
The loveliest of all was the Unicorn."
"The Unicorn" (1962)
:
"Well, my daddy left home when I was three
Didn't leave very much to my mom and me
Except this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze
Now, I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that my daddy ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me Sue"
"A Boy Named Sue" (1969)

"We take all kinds of pills that give us all kind of thrills
But the thrill we've never known
Is the thrill that'll getcha when you get your picture
On the cover of the Rollin' Stone"
"The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" (1972)

This question was a rare one that include interesting information. The full text was "He was a writer, playwright and cartoonist." Shel Silverstein's skills as a writer are evident in his adult songs, though the themes aren't always suitable for children. The best version of "The Unicorn" was performed by the Irish Rovers. Johnny Cash's cover of "A Boy Named Sue" was well known. Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show included "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" on one of their albums.

"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) was "performed" by Alvin and the Chipmunks. The song was written by David Seville (Ross Bagdasarian)--who provided the singing voice of the Chipmunks--in 1958. The song may best be known for Alvin's wish for a hula-hoop (a trendy new item in 1958).

"Hurry Christmas, hurry fast
Want a plane that loops the loop
Me, I want a hula-hoop
We can hardly stand the wait
Please, Christmas, don't be late"