Where the Side Walk Ends

I found this book on my bookshelf in our loft last night. It was my favorite book growing up as a child. I remember in Elementary School I was selfish and would re-check out the book week after week making it unavailable to other students. Hey back then I didn't know any better, I just knew I had to memorize the peanut butter sandwich poem.

Since the passing of Shel, I now have all of his books. I believe every child should experience the gift of reading the Giving Tree, The Missing Piece and Where the Sidewalk Ends. To me these are treasures every child should know.

In ode to my favorite childhood book, I had to share one of my favorite poems.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Shel Silverstein