Shel Silverstein books in order span far more than the children’s classics many readers remember. The American author, poet, illustrator, cartoonist, playwright, and songwriter created books for children and adults, including picture books, poetry collections, illustrated satire, plays, and a screenplay.
This guide covers 24 unique book-length works written or co-written by Silverstein. I’ve separated revised editions, expanded editions, anthology contributions, boxed sets, translations, and other repackaged material so the same work isn’t counted twice.
Jump to:
- Shel Silverstein Children’s Books
- Shel Silverstein Poetry Collections
- Missing Piece Books
- Runny Babbit Books
- Shel Silverstein Adult Cartoon and Illustrated Books
- Shel Silverstein Plays and Screenplays
- Shel Silverstein Short Stories
- Shel Silverstein Special Editions and Companion Books
- About Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein Children’s Books
Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back was Silverstein’s first children’s book, although it wasn’t his first published book overall. These four books are independent stories, so you can read them in any order. I’d choose whichever title interests you most rather than treating them as a series.
- Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back (1963)
- A Giraffe and a Half (1964)
- The Giving Tree (1964)
- Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? (1964)
Shel Silverstein Poetry Collections
Silverstein’s poetry collections don’t follow one continuous story, so they can be read in any order. I’d start with Where the Sidewalk Ends or A Light in the Attic for the best-known examples of his playful verse and drawings. Where the Sidewalk Ends has no formal sequel, even though several later collections share its style.
- Uncle Shelby’s Zoo: Don’t Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies (1964)
- Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974)
- A Light in the Attic (1981)
- Falling Up (1996)
- Every Thing On It (2011)
Uncle Shelby’s Zoo was Silverstein’s first poetry collection. HarperCollins reissued the same collection in 2008 as Don’t Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies, so I don’t count that edition as a separate book.
Missing Piece Books
The Missing Piece books are related companion fables rather than two parts of one continuous plot. Still, I recommend reading them in publication order because the second book revisits the central idea from a different perspective.
- The Missing Piece (1976)
- The Missing Piece Meets the Big O (1981)
Runny Babbit Books
The Runny Babbit books use spoonerisms, with the opening sounds of words switched to create their distinctive language. My advice is to read these two collections in publication order.
Both books were published after Silverstein’s death from poems and drawings preserved in his archives. Runny Babbit Returns contains 41 previously unpublished poems and drawings.
Shel Silverstein Adult Cartoon and Illustrated Books
Silverstein began publishing adult cartoons well before he became known as a children’s author. His first book overall was Take Ten, a 1955 collection of cartoons created while he served in the U.S. Army. These books stand alone, and I think publication order is most useful for seeing how his visual humor developed.
- Take Ten (1955)
- Now Here’s My Plan: A Book of Futilities (1960)
- Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book: A Primer for Tender Young Minds (1961)
- Playboy’s Teevee Jeebies (1963)
- More Playboy’s Teevee Jeebies (1965)
- Different Dances (1979)
- Playboy’s Silverstein Around the World (2007)
Ballantine published a revised version of Take Ten as Grab Your Socks! in 1956. Because it reworks the earlier military-cartoon collection rather than presenting an entirely separate book, I list it with the special editions below instead of counting it twice.
Shel Silverstein Plays and Screenplays
Silverstein also wrote for the stage and screen. These books are independent works, so no special reading order is required.
- Things Change: A Screenplay (1988) (With David Mamet)
- Oh, Hell!: Two One-Act Plays (1991) (With David Mamet)
- An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein (2003)
- Shel’s Shorts (2003)
Oh, Hell! combines David Mamet’s “Bobby Gould in Hell” with Silverstein’s “The Devil and Billy Markham.” Silverstein’s work originally appeared in Playboy in 1979 before it was adapted for the stage and published in the shared volume.
Shel Silverstein Short Stories
Silverstein contributed three adult crime stories to anthologies edited by Otto Penzler. These aren’t standalone Silverstein books, but I’d include them in a complete bibliography because each anthology published an original contribution.
- “For What She Had Done” in Murder for Love (1996) (Short Story)
- “The Enemy” in Murder for Revenge (1998) (Short Story)
- “The Guilty Party” in Murder and Obsession (1999) (Short Story)
“The Guilty Party” was reprinted in The Best American Mystery Stories 2000, but I don’t count that later appearance as a separate work.
Shel Silverstein Special Editions and Companion Books
Editions with Additional Material
I normally exclude reissues from a bibliography, but these editions contain revisions or additional material that readers may want.
- Grab Your Socks! (1956) (Revised version of Take Ten)
- Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? (1983) (Revised and Expanded Edition)
- Where the Sidewalk Ends with 12 Extra Poems (2004)
- A Light in the Attic with 12 Extra Poems (2009)
- Falling Up Special Edition: With 12 New Poems (2015)
Optional Drawing Booklet
Draw a Skinny Elephant (1998) is a brief interactive drawing booklet. I consider it optional companion material rather than one of Silverstein’s core book-length works, but it’s worth knowing about because it was published during his lifetime.
About Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein was born in Chicago in 1930. He began publishing cartoons while serving in the U.S. Army, and Take Ten collected work he created for Pacific Stars and Stripes. After his military service, his cartoons appeared in publications including Playboy, which also sent him around the world to create illustrated travel pieces.
Silverstein’s career as a children’s author began with Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back in 1963. The following year brought The Giving Tree, A Giraffe and a Half, Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?, and his first poetry collection. In my view, that range explains why his bibliography is easy to underestimate when readers know him mainly for one or two childhood favorites.
He was also a musician and songwriter. Silverstein wrote “A Boy Named Sue,” recorded by Johnny Cash, and “One’s on the Way,” recorded by Loretta Lynn, along with songs associated with Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show and other performers.
A Light in the Attic became the first children’s book to appear on the New York Times bestseller list and remained there for 182 weeks. Silverstein died in 1999, but completed poetry and drawings from his archives later appeared in Runny Babbit, Every Thing On It, and Runny Babbit Returns.
Looking for more books in order?
If you want more authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Books in Order index.