My Biography of Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein was born in 1932. He was not only a poet, but also an author, songwriter, composer, cartoonist, play writer, and singer. He started to draw when he was five by tracing an artist he admired. When he was around twelve, he would rather be playing ball with the other boys, but he was no good at ball. He also had no one to copy either, so he started his own style. This was when he really got into drawing and writing.

Later on, he joined the army and worked as a cartoonist for the military. After working in the military, he was hired as staff cartoonist for Playboy.

He started writing children’s books when he was introduced to someone who encouraged and first gave him the idea. He wrote a few children’s books, including Light in the Attic, a collection of poems.

Later, he got drawn to folk music and began a career as a composer. He wrote a song that was a number one hit, and composed music for a film.

He died of a heart attack in 1999, in Florida.