Invitation
Last night as I viewed how my Stats in 3D have slid into the ‘nothings-going-on-here’ cavern again, I noticed all of the sudden my views take off.
Every now-and-again, somewhere around the world somebody(s) gets a hankering for Shel Silverstein and his wonderful poems. Last night a few searches were done and 3D received 10 hits for some of his poems, including Snowball, which was viewed 6 times along.
Snowball was actually founds via search 161 times last year alone. Another one of my personal favorites, Hug Of War, was viewed 4 times last night.
Back when I created this blog I put a smithering of our family favorites from Shel’s book, “Where The Sidewalk Ends” in the top header entitled, Bedtime Stories as we always read some of these poems to the kids as they went to bed. As you can see, these are not the typical children’s’ stories.
They are fun!
If you have an propensity for the silly or imaginative readings these poems can be a lot of fun as you act out the character in the poems.
But as a parent these poems, or this book, has greater value. Our kids loved hearing these stories at night and then want to try to read them their self . It created genuine interest in books and reading for our girls. Now, every night at bedtime they demand to hear another story.
The benefits of enjoying books and reading?
Dylan brought home her 2nd report card this week. She received all ‘A’s again. Her teacher’s comments included how “Dylan is advanced to the next grade level in all her academic studies. She is a great listener and contributes well in class discussions.”
As a parent you gotta feel proud of that and can’t help go back to when we read ‘Acrobats‘ over and over until the girls could read it by heart.
I’ll swing
By my ankles,
She’ll cling
To your knees
As you hang
By your nose
From a high-up
Trapeze.
Just one thing, please,
As we float through the breeze–
Don’t sneeze.
This year, while shopping for Christmas presents for the girls, Santa spied another Shel Silverstein book for them, A Light In The Attic.
And I hope to start reading and learning this book with the girls real soon. But first they feel compelled to finish reading another good children’s book, The Children’s Bible.
If you have some young children I invite you to explore the world of Shel Silverstein and open up their world of imagination and fondness for reading and books.
(My ‘Stats’ are going to soar now!)
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Sure enough, 2 hours after I included the words Shel Silverstein, Snowball and Hug Of War in the same post….I became popular again!
Your stats are booming! Looks like “OUR LIFE IN 3D” is getting lots of traffic.
OUR LIFE IN 3D 
Oh good grief, this is hilarious!
Ah, I smiled just seeing those illustrations again. 🙂
Way to go Dylan!! Your “rents” are so proud of you! 🙂 Silverstein rocks and so do you! 🙂 🙂
Andy, reading is the best and Shel Silverstein is right up there with Dr. Suess! Reading gives kids (adults) such freedom and opens up their worlds to boundless possibilities! Hurray for reading!! Nice post.
I have great childhood memories of these books. Who knew Shel Silverstein had such blog traffic power!
Thanks for your kind words SSM! Yes the acting it out I think really draws the child in to the story instead of just turning and reading pages. We have so much fun, especially with the ones with monsters under the bed or running and catching dreams. And that is something I did not know about you, Ms. SSM, Scotch Irish roots? Same here. That’s another thing we seem to have in common ( running, love for the beach, and our roots). Makes me wonder what else, huh? Thanks for dropping by SSM! Take care and have the best weekend ever!
Yes I get a kick out of the search terms that land people here too. I had one last week that found my blog where someone asked, ‘some girl getting wedgied all night’ (???) Shel is great and the book actually came from my wife’s fav. books when she was a kid. I hope you are doing great Jenn! thanks for dropping by…
Ah my stats slid as I didn’t post anything new in about a week. Thanks to great readers like you 3D still ha a pulse! I think one part of the holidays is people spend less time on the computers as they have less time, due to all the activities. I know I sure have. But thanks for dropping by Ms. Jessica! I hope your weekend is a great one!
Wonderful post, Mr. 3D, and what a great dad you are! We use these stories (as well as liberal doses of Dr. Seuss) at our hospital on my kiddie unit as therapeutic interventions. Nothing like a lively story with a point to heal what ails them… a little humor goes a long way. Sadly, some of them have never, ever been read to like that. Sometimes my staff think I’m off my rocker, but acting it out really drives it home. My Scotch-Irish grandmother was a children’s librarian, so these books are especially near and dear to my heart. Thank you for posting this!
i always enjoy seeing “how” people ended up at my blog (my favorite search term of all time being “bro tank for lesbian help”)! love shel silverstein, too – a great choice!
No, I don’t care so much for the stats, especially if I haven’t posted in awhile, like I was thinking last night. I’m surprised people stop by at all after a week off. I mainly enjoy the stories the stats tell and to see where everyone comes from. . thanks for finding me this morning Ms. Great Country Music! Have a great weekend!
Ah, thanks for those great kind words Diana! you are great. I hope to keep it interesting enough for my readers. I know its not always the easiest thing to read about other people’s kids. And as far as great readers, YOU made my Top 3 in most comments last year! So you are one of the greatest readers. (I have your 3D t-shirt in the mail). Thanks for dropping by Di! As always, great to hear from you…
Your timing was perfect Jess, as the Comment I had right before yours was from WP saying, “Your stats are booming! Looks like “OUR LIFE IN 3D” is getting lots of traffic.” Thats the power of Shel and a Snowball poem on the heels of an arctic freeze here in the states. I don’t look at the numbers so much in the stats as the stories they tell. I hope you guys are staying warm this weekend. Thanks for stopping by!
Jody, I have a confession to make, that sign of my stats taking off was because of you and your getting caught up in 3D this morning. Thank you for all the Likes and happy to have you drop by.
And So if you stick your finger in, he may bite off your nail. Yes we love that one too and have fun reading and acting it out. Its so much more than just reading bed time stories to your kids when you can interact at the same time. Thanks for dropping by Jody and flipping thru our pages. Have a great weekend!
Laura, Jess did a great job with Dylan. We are so happy about that. And you should be proud, with all the help she received from Texas. Thank you so much. We were reading a book from the Smithsonian last night on the First Ladies of the US. And one question was, ‘What would you like least about being the First Lady?’ And Dylan said, ‘Being married!’ Gotta lover her!
We wish Jessica well with her new little boy; he’s a lucky one! And we will always have a special place in our hearts for you too Grandma WaWa!
I love Shel Silverstein stories!!! Good memories from childhood. If I ever have kids, I will definitely read to and with them someday… My stats have slid over the holidays, too. I was just too busy for blogging. The funny thing? I was okay with that. Everything in balance and perspective.
Thanks for this great post!! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Stats aren’t important, your blog is fantastic just the way it is.
Your ‘stats’ already soar in the areas of highest importance; your family, your friends, and your readers!
Diana xo
Here’s hoping your viewer stats and comments go through the roof!
We are such big fans of Shel Silverstein. My oldest daughter’s 1st grade teacher highly recommended them. That was many, many moons ago, and we’re all still hooked!
One of my favorites is “Warning”: “Inside everybody’s nose
There lives a sharp-toothed snail…”
Happy reading to you and yours!
I kinda have to feel just a little proud when I hear how advanced Dylan is. Jessica is a nanny again while she finishes up school. She has little boy this time but every day they have learning time just like her and Dylan had. I know it may seem silly but I will always hold a special place in my heart for Dylan. I know Jessica does. I hope someday to start sending some books her way when you feel she is ready. It’s the whole series of the Nancy Drew books. They were a favorite in our house. Love to all from Texas!