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rdyourbookcase's review against another edition
4.0
This was cute. It’s nice she’s keeping the tradition of Where the Sidewalk Ends going. I liked the poems. Some of them weren’t silly enough, but most were fun!
cstoeger's review against another edition
4.0
MG poems. Most poems are very funny. Poems are too long to use in Storytime though.
pwbalto's review against another edition
4.0
Baby sister, roller coaster, imaginary friend. Kite, bat, Christmas tree, bubblegum and sand. Familiar objects and situations are given a sideways tweak in more than one hundred illustrated poems. A kid rats out a classmate - for being a tattle-tale; the scary alien under the bed turns out to be a moldy sandwich; and in an epic poem that recalls the old lady who swallowed the fly, a boy wears his coat upside-down, walks on his hands, sits on his head, and eats from his shoe. That kid is living life way outside the box!
Diane Goode’s ink and brush illustrations are full of swooping lines and flippy flourishes - energetic and graceful at the same time. The art picks up the punchline of the funny poems, amplifying the humor to laugh-out-loud levels; but is ornate and lovely for poems about the moon, dreams, or sunrise.
Ms. Wilson dedicates the book to Shel Silverstein, and indeed the black and white illustrations and mixture of wry observation and kooky supposition recall Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up.
—Paula Willey for Booklist Online
Diane Goode’s ink and brush illustrations are full of swooping lines and flippy flourishes - energetic and graceful at the same time. The art picks up the punchline of the funny poems, amplifying the humor to laugh-out-loud levels; but is ornate and lovely for poems about the moon, dreams, or sunrise.
Ms. Wilson dedicates the book to Shel Silverstein, and indeed the black and white illustrations and mixture of wry observation and kooky supposition recall Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up.
—Paula Willey for Booklist Online
readingthroughtheages's review against another edition
4.0
Fun book of poetry, reminiscent of Shel Silverstein. I think a few of the poems reminded me of a specific Silverstein poem. It would be fun to go back and compare! Several poems made me laugh out loud. Diane Goode's illustrations are always fun to look at.
muddypuddle's review against another edition
5.0
In this homage to Shel Silverstein, funny, clever, rhythmic poems (including poems with no flabby rhyming) are not only dedicated to the great children's poet, but they even look and sound somewhat like his creations. Such fun!
libscote's review against another edition
4.0
Loved this one! Reminded me a lot of Shel Silverstein.
rachel_menard's review against another edition
4.0
We got this book because my son was reading my old copy of [b:Where the Sidewalk Ends|30119|Where the Sidewalk Ends|Shel Silverstein|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1168052448s/30119.jpg|30518], and he loved the poems as much as I did. When I looked for similar silly poetry books for kids, Outside the Box appeared, and it really is similar to Sidewalk, almost too similar, right down to the stark, black and white imagery that accompanies each poem.
Not to say it wasn't a really fun read. This is just the tame version of Where the Sidewalk Ends. They both have poems about a sick day, except the twist in Shel's version is that the girl was lying about being sick. The Outside the Box version is the boy has to be sick on Saturday. They both have poems about annoying little sisters. In Shel's version, the older sister tries to sell the younger sister. In the Outside the Box version, the older sister hates the baby sister but still thinks she's beautiful...see the connection?
But don't worry, there are still plenty of boogers in it, like one my favorite poems in the book, Wishy Washy.
Then there was Professional Liar.
I'm a professional liar,
I tell tales most every day.
But I'll shed some light.
My job is to write.
And in fiction, lies are okay.
Really cute, really funny, definitely influenced by Shel Silverstein, and in comparing the two, I like his work a little better because he pushed the envelope further, into darker places. But if you found his poems a little too harsh and disgusting, and you don't want your kid to get ideas about selling his baby sister, then you will probably prefer Outside the Box.
Not to say it wasn't a really fun read. This is just the tame version of Where the Sidewalk Ends. They both have poems about a sick day, except the twist in Shel's version is that the girl was lying about being sick. The Outside the Box version is the boy has to be sick on Saturday. They both have poems about annoying little sisters. In Shel's version, the older sister tries to sell the younger sister. In the Outside the Box version, the older sister hates the baby sister but still thinks she's beautiful...see the connection?
But don't worry, there are still plenty of boogers in it, like one my favorite poems in the book, Wishy Washy.
Then there was Professional Liar.
I'm a professional liar,
I tell tales most every day.
But I'll shed some light.
My job is to write.
And in fiction, lies are okay.
Really cute, really funny, definitely influenced by Shel Silverstein, and in comparing the two, I like his work a little better because he pushed the envelope further, into darker places. But if you found his poems a little too harsh and disgusting, and you don't want your kid to get ideas about selling his baby sister, then you will probably prefer Outside the Box.