I started reading this and other of Shel Silverstein's books when I was about four or five and to this day I have never "outgrown" him. I mean, who can? His rhymes and poems, songs and riddles, they all work for everybody with half a degree of imagination. The most cursory read of Where The Sidewalk Ends will show you not only how good/funny/imaginative/likable/silly/deep Silverstein is (sigh, was...) but you'll catch on to why he was so darn cool. This man was close personal friends with Roman Catholic Cardinals, hippies, rabbis, other poets, songwriters, and no less an icon than Hef, himself. (Shel practically lived the whole 1970's at the Playboy Mansion.) A little known fact is, Shel Silverstein even wrote a little song for his buddy Johnny Cash called "A Boy Named Sue". Ever heard of it? And of everything Shel wrote, the many books out there, I think this one MIGHT just be his best.
Or, wait...no, maybe it's The Light In The Attic.
No, no....maybe it's actually The Giving Tree....
Maybe? Maybe it was Falling Up?
I can never decide. One thing I do know and that's Where The Sidewalk Ends is Silverstein at his most awesome!