Poetry Corner

Ice Cream Stop

By Shel Silverstein

The circus train made an ice cream stop

At the fifty-two-flavor ice cream stand.

The animals all got off the train

And walked right up to the ice cream man.

“I’ll take Vanilla,” yelled the gorilla.

“I’ll take Chocolate,” shouted the ocelot.

“I’ll take the Strawberry,” chirped the canary.

“Rocky Road,” croaked the toad.

“Lemon and Lime,” growled the lion.

Said the ice cream man, “‘Til I see a dime.

You’ll get no ice cream of mine.”

Then the animals snarled and screeched and growled

And whinnied and whimpered and hooted and howled

And gobbled up the whole ice cream stand,

All fifty-two flavors

(Fifty-three with Ice Cream Man).

“Ice Cream Stop” by Shel Silverstein from Falling Up. © Harper Collins Publishers, 1996.

About the poet: Sheldon Allan Silverstein was born September 25, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois. He was born into a Jewish family, attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in Chicago, and then the University of Illinois, from which he was expelled. While later attending the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, and served in Japan and Korea.

He began drawing at age seven, by tracing the works of Al Capp, but soon developed his own style. After his military service, he returned to Chicago, and submitted cartoons to magazines, while also selling hot dogs at Chicago ballparks. In 1957, he became one of the lead cartoonists in “Playboy”.

Silverstein was associated with the “outlaw country” movement in music. He wrote songs for a number of artists, including Johnny Cash, Tompall Glaser, and Loretta Lynn — including Johnny Cash’s biggest hit, “A Boy Named Sue”. He also wrote “The Unicorn” for the Irish Rovers.

Many of us know him best as the creator of books for children, including The Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Missing Piece, Falling Up, and A Light in the Attic.

Shel Silverstein died of a heart attack at the age of 68 at his home in Key West, Florida, on May 10, 1999.