Uncle Shelby's ABZs

It may look like a kids' coloring book, but this one is definitely for the grownups. Unless you REALLY hate kids

To all my dear little friends:

Once upon a time there was a man named Uncle Shelby. Uncle Shelby was a talented and jolly fellow who liked to write poetry and make up songs and draw cartoons.

Naturally, this made Uncle Shelby a perfect fit for:

• The Major Leagues? Nah, he couldn't pitch worth squat.
• Bungee-jumping? Alas, extreme sports were not yet in vogue.
• Children's poetry books? Bzzt! Wrong again.

In point of fact, Uncle Shelby (aka Shel Silverstein) got his start writing and illustrating for Playboy. Many of his more risqué poems and drawings were used as filler—y'know, in between those articles that everyone claims to read the magazine for?—in the 1960s and early 1970s. In fact, Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book was first published, in slightly altered form, in the August 1961 issue of America's favorite softcore porn mag. Go fig.

Eventually Silverstein's editor realized ol' Uncle Shelby was in the wrong business and pointed him toward the children's book section of HarperCollins, and the rest is kidlit history. Those who are only familiar with Silverstein's poetry collections such as Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic should be advised that, visual similarities to the contrary, this is not really a book in the same vein. Yes, you can see bits of Uncle Shelby's darker side in his children's books, but in this little paperback it is displayed in its full glory. (Not that anybody's naked in here, mind you.) Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book was originally marketed as "a primer for tender young minds," but it's definitely for grownups, filled with wicked humor—the kind that chuckles darkly in the recesses of your id. You're a responsible adult; you'd never really tell kids any of these things, but... oh, some days...

B is for baby.
See the baby.
The baby is fat.
The baby is pretty.
The baby can laugh.
The baby can cry.
See the baby play.
Play, baby, play.
Pretty pretty baby.
Mommy loves the baby
more than she loves you.

In this book, Shel Silverstein generously doles out the comeuppance to all those lousy little punks whose necks you just wanted to wring at one time or another. Sometimes gently, sometimes rudely, he pokes fun at the "Dick and Jane" style of storytelling and all the typical conventions of children's books—including potty training ("As long as you keep wetting your pants, you will never drown in the potty." Hey, can't fault his logic). This satirical coloring book isn't so much for "tender young minds" as for the young—and wicked—at heart.

All material displayed on this website is © 2001-2009 by S. B. Houghton, writing under the alias "The Pirate King." All rights reserved.
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