A Light in the Attic
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Book Summary Information
Illustrator: Shel SilversteinEdition: Hardcover
Published: 1981-10-07
ISBN: 0060256737
Number of pages: 176
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Reviews of A Light in the Attic
Book Review: An inscrutable genius, writing in a language children instinctively comprehend
Summary: 5 Stars
Your child just might be more capable of appreciating this marvelous book of poetry than you anticipate.
Here's our story. We had brought our child of 20 months to Disney World, at the invitation of her grandparents (my parents.) Like the doting grandparents they are, they not only generously hosted her (and us) on vacation, but they sprang for some books to surprise her with, to keep her entertained in the hotel room.
My mother had ordered A Light in the Attic based on the recommendation of the History Book Club. She phoned me after it had arrived, saying, "I think I made a mistake. I can't see any way that a child of twenty months will be interested in these Silverstein books. They're volumes of poetry collections, with only crude sketches for illustrations, and at that, not even every poem is illustrated."
When I saw the books my mother had bought, I agreed with her assessment. I myself came of age before they were published, and wasn't familiar with them. And surely our very young daughter would get nothing out of these books. Even the packaging seemed aimed at an older audience - the author's photograph is on the back cover, for goodness sake. What child is interested in that? So we showed Juliana the other books first, opening up A Light in the Attic only on the last day of the vacation.
And, indeed, a light it was. What a revelation.
The first time I read these poems to my little girl, she would not allow me to stop until I had read 50 full pages. The second time - she wouldn't let me stop until I had covered 75! About two weeks later, she actually drove me to read the ENTIRE book, cover to cover - a process that was ended only twelve pages from the end, when we were called grudgingly to dinner.
There were certain poems that I just could never get past. "Read it again!" she would exclaim after these. Even five, six consecutive readings of certain poems was not enough to satisfy.
These poems, we have found, are like uncovering a secret language that only children fully and instinctively understand. The adult who reads these books aloud may also rediscover a few forgotten preoccupations, anxieties, questions, joys and sources of humor, of long, long ago.
The appeal of these poems for our daughter has been so intense that we have spent some time wondering aloud to each other about the components of Silverstein's genius. Here are a few, admittedly untutored, thoughts:
First, there is his flair for the amusing nonsense word: our daughter particularly loves the poems that contain such gems as: "loony-goony," "sploosh," "whoosh," and "fly-hi-dee, try-hi-dee, my-hi-dee-ho."
But it's not just silly words. Indeed, unlike the Seuss books, many of the Silverstein poems have much less disciplined meter. The subject matter, in addition to the sound, is a great part of the resonant quality.
Our child especially likes the subversive, satirical poems- revealing to us that she's aware of much more than we'd realized. There's a "Knock-Knock" poem in which a "Mehoo" with an "Exactlywatt" on a chain delivers a routine that sounds like something out of Abbott and Costello. Another poem is a take-off on "One Two Buckle My Shoe." ("Buckle your own shoe!" is the first interruption.) Who would have thought that our twenty-month-old would get the jokes? But she does. These satirical poems were among those that she requested be repeatedly read, giggling every time.
Silverstein has an impressive talent for remembering and conveying the wonder and anxiety that children find in domestic settings. Again, one wouldn't think a small child yet possesses these anxieties and fascinations, but these poems have enabled us to discover that she does. In one poem, there is a polar bear lurking in the refrigerator; in another, there's an eyeball in the gumball machine (one of several ghoulish poems in the collection, which we try to skip over - she won't let us flip past that one, though); in another, the child falling asleep is tormented by the "What ifs" ("What if I don't grow taller?"); another conveys the boredom of flipping through uninteresting television channels on a weekend afternoon. Both daughter and parent connect with these.
Our daughter's other favorites include: Picture Puzzle Piece, Messy Room, Squishy Touch ("Every single thing I touch turns to raspberry Jell-O."), Eight Balloons (each of which finds a different cause to go, "POP!"), -Ations (all about conversation, communication, cooperation, reconciliation, etc.) Overdues ("What do I do? What do I do? This library book is forty two years overdue. . . ") and Hippo's Hope.
In being asked to read these poems over and over, we have grown to love them too. How could one not love the chance to read such couplets to one's child as:
"How much good inside a day?
Depends how good you live `em.
How much love inside a friend?
Depends how much you give `em."
Our daughter has three Silverstein volumes: This one, plus Falling Up, plus the first in the series, Where the Sidewalk Ends. Where the Sidewalk Ends is the most renowned, but A Light in the Attic is our family favorite. Perhaps our daughter loves these most because she got to know this volume first; maybe, but so far it's our favorite as well.
Silverstein's poetry has plucked responsive chords in our daughter and in the process helped us to grow closer to her. For that, we are very grateful for his inscrutable genius.
Concluding note to parents: It's not always the lavishly illustrated, sensory overload books that will most appeal to a child, even a very young child. There are other ways to more directly touch their feelings, and this book is a rare, fine example.
Summary of A Light in the Attic
Last night while I lay thinking here
Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
And pranced and partied all night long
And sang their same old Whatif song:Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?...
Here in the attic of Shel Silverstein you will find Backward Bill, Sour Face Ann, the Meehoo with an Exactlywatt, and the Polar Bear in the Frigidaire. You will talk with Broiled Face, and find out what happens when Somebody steals your knees, you get caught by the Quick-Digesting Gink, a Mountain snores, and They Put a Brassiere on the Camel.
From the creator of the beloved poetry collections Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up, here is another wondrous book of poems and drawings.
Ages 9-12 Books
- Children's Books
- Literature > Classics by Age
- Poetry > Humorous
- Silverstein, Shel
- Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( S ) > Silverstein, Shel
- Entertainment > Humor > Limericks & Humorous Verse
- Literature & Fiction > World Literature > United States
- British > Poetry > 20th Century
- Poetry > Single Authors
- Children's Books: Literature: Classics by Age: General
- Children's Books: Literature: Poetry: General
- Children's Books: Ages 9-12: General
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