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Shel Silverstein

Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book: A Primer for Adults Only Paperback – September 9, 1985

by Shel Silverstein (Author)

4.7 396 ratings

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Full of wit and twisted humor this notorious Shel Silverstein classic is a book you won't want your children to read!

Written for adults only, Shel Silverstein—the popular children's book author—presents a humorous satire of alphabet books filled with ABC lessons parents would never want their children to learn.

Reading age

1 - 10 years, from customers
Print length

80 pages
Language

English
Dimensions

8.38 x 0.4 x 11 inches
Publisher

Gallery Books
Publication date

September 9, 1985
ISBN-10

067121148X
ISBN-13

978-0671211486
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Shel Silverstein is best known as a children’s book author who wrote and illustrated a number of bestselling books that have charmed millions of readers of all ages. Crossing many artistic boundaries, he was also a noted songwriter and an accomplished playwright. Silverstein first came to prominence in the 1950s as a cartoonist for Playboy, where he assumed the role of roving ambassador for the up-and-coming magazine. This esteemed assignment—due in no small part to his friendship with Hugh M. Hefner—was the auspicious beginning of a most amazing career. Shel Silverstein died in 1999.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

A is for apple

See the nice green apple.

M-M-M-M-Good.

How many nice green apples can you eat?

Make a circle around the number of nice green little apples you ate today.

1 2 3 4 7 12 26 38 57 83 91 116

B is for baby

See the baby

The baby is fat

The baby is pink

The baby can cry

The baby can laugh

See the baby play

Play, baby, play.

Pretty, pretty, baby.

Mommy loves the baby more than she loves you.

Z is for zoo

Let's go to the zoo

See all the animals!

The animals are locked inside the cages.

Poor animals!

Who will let them out???

See the elephant in the zoo. Give the nice elephant some peanut shells with pepper inside. That will be a good joke on him. Ha. Ha. Ha Ha. The elephant is mad but don't worry -- By tomorrow the elephant will have forgotten all about it.

Poor hippopotomus. The hippopotumos has a bone stuck in his throat and can't get it out. Poor hipopothomus the hipopottomos has no fingers like you do. Poor hipotopomus. Say, maybe he is not a real hiptopomos after all. Maybe he is really a royal prince that has been turned into a hipopotomos by a wicked witch and when some person takes the bone out of his throat the spell will be broken and he will turn back into a prince again and give whoever did it a million dollars in gold and a horse and a castle.

See the hippopotimus in the zoo

Whew!

Copyright © 1961 by Shel Silverstein

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gallery Books; Reissue edition (September 9, 1985)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 80 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 067121148X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0671211486
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 1 - 10 years, from customers
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.38 x 0.4 x 11 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #164,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,935 in Instruction Methods
- #4,215 in Humor (Books)
- #12,932 in Reference (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.7 396 ratings

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Shel Silverstein

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"And now, children, your Uncle Shelby is going to tell you a story about a very strange lion- in fact, the strangest lion I have ever met." So begins Shel Silverstein's very first children's book, Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back. It's funny and sad and has made readers laugh and think since it was published in 1963. It was followed the next year by three more books. The first of them, The Giving Tree, is a moving story about the love of a tree for a boy. Shel returned to humor the same year with A Giraffe and a Half, delighting readers with a most riotous ending. The third book in 1964 was Uncle Shelby's Zoo Don't Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies, Shel's first poetry collection, and his first and only book illustrated in full color. It combined his unique imagination and bold brand of humor in this collection of silly and scary creatures. Shel's second collection of poems and drawings, Where the Sidewalk Ends, was published in 1974. His recording of the poems won him a Grammy for best Children's Album. In this collection, Shel invited children to dream and dare to imagine the impossible, from a hippopotamus sandwich to the longest nose in the world. With his next collection of poems and drawings, A Light in the Attic, published in 1981, Shel asked his readers to turn the light on in their attics, to put something silly in the world, and not to be discouraged by the Whatifs. Instead he urged readers to catch the moon or invite a dinosaur to dinner- to have fun! A Light in the Attic was the first children's book to break onto the New York Times Bestseller List, where it stayed for a record-breaking 182 weeks. The last book that was published before his death in 1999 was Falling Up (1996). Like his other books, it is filled with unforgettable characters. Shel Silverstein's legacy continued with the release of a new work,Runny Babbit, the first posthumous publication conceived and completed before his death and released in March 2005. Witty and wondrous, Runny Babbit is a poetry collection of simple spoonerismsH, which twist the tongue and tease the mind. Don't Bump the Glump! And Other Fantasies was recently reissued in 2008 after being unavailable for over 30 years. Shel was always a believer in letting his work do the talking for him--few authors have ever done it better.

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4.7 out of 5

396 global ratings

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ken hines

Kids know when their leg’s being pulled

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 24, 2023

Verified Purchase

My kids got it and my grandkids got it and now my greats will get it!

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Catherine S. Vodrey

A classic NOT for young children!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 23, 2002

Verified Purchase

I have always thought of Shel Silverstein as the American counterpart to England's Roald Dahl--someone who writes ostensibly for children much of the time, but whose worldview is dark, perhaps a little damp, and steeped in a winking cynicism. Silverstein proves my point adeptly in the 1961 classic "Uncle Shelby's ABZ," a loopy uproar of a book that should never, NEVER be given to young children. You will, however, want to get a copy for every adult you're fond of who doesn't already own a copy.
As Silverstein explains in the foreword (done here, as throughout the book, in his own handwriting), he has thought and thought about children and as he wasn't blessed with children of his own, he has come up with this "primer" for all children. The book opens with a wee poem:
O child learn your ABZ's
And memorize them well
And you shall learn to talk and think
And read and write and spel.
That ought to give you an idea of what's to come. Silverstein meticulously addresses every letter in the alphabet, descending further and further as he does into a swirling pit of black humor. He starts off, of course, with "A," writing with great jollity about how many green apples he thinks the reader can eat (everything is addressed directly TO the reader, as though the reader is a child, making the text all the more seductive). "E" is a hoot:
E is for egg.
See the egg.
The egg is full of slimey goosey white stuff and icky yellow stuff.
Do you like to eat eggs?
E is also for Ernie.
Ernie is the genie who lives in the ceiling.
Ernie loves eggs.
Take a nice fresh egg and throw it as high as you can and yell "Catch, Ernie! Catch the egg!"
And Ernie will reach down and catch the egg.
Silverstein's humor is subversive, to say the least. One page has a coupon, which Silverstein accompanies with the following text:
Kids! Clip out this certificate and bring it to your friendly neighborhood grocer and he will give you, absolutely free . . . A REAL LIVE PONY!
I have seen adults absolutely dissolve off their chairs with helpless laughter on reading "Uncle Shelby's ABZ." It wickedly plays off every insecurity and worry and doomed hope that any child secretly entertains, and it does so with a ruthlessness that's mighty to behold. This is highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended for any adult.

97 people found this helpful

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colleen

Something Truthy This Way Comes

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

Ready for a trip down memory lane? How about a book that shows you why your parents and grandparents are laughing all the time about the foibles of our cultural mindset du jour?
This dark truthy tome is for kids of all ages and sensibilities slightly askew to what’s real an’at. Uncle Shelly is a genius for how he nails it.
I bought it because my boyfriend is still giggling about the time his 13 year old precocious son read it aloud to his maternal grandmother and all that could be heard from her end was “oh no! What kind of parent would let a CHILD read this??? This is TERRIBlE!!!”
Anyway - well worth the read - or the reread!!
I’m saving this for when my own precocious grand kid can read it to me!

6 people found this helpful

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Lizardhaven

A beloved book from my son's childhoods.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

My favorite part was wnere Uncle Shelby says he glued a quarter there for the child to spend but all we see is a glue smudge and Uncle hopes their parents did not keep the quarter for themselves.
But while my son took her to Area 51 before she was 4, he did not teach her irony when he had the chance.
I did not take him to Area 51 until he was 12. He learned irony and other forms of twisted humor much younger. You got to let a kid be a kid before he faces the more serious aspects of this world or gets rousted off a hilltop by Doug the sheriff with a bullhorn.

One person found this helpful

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Michelle

Ahhh, the childhood memories!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 21, 2021

Verified Purchase

OMGosh! I can’t even begin to describe how funny this book is!!
My family had this book when I was a kid, and even when I didn’t entirely understand some of the humor, I thought this book was great. Now as an adult, this book is hilarious!!
I would recommend it to anyone who has a funny bone (or is trying to develop one)!

4 people found this helpful

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Charles Cady

Not a children's book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

I bought this one as a Christmas present for my 36 year old Son, now that he has three children. We read our copy to him when he was a young child. But then we wanted to warp his mind to better match with ours.

One person found this helpful

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Michael W Fortner

A classic book - good for all new parents.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

When we had our first child, someone passed this book on to use, and it was hilarious. Now, I'm passing it to a new generation. It passes the test of time.

3 people found this helpful

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CVH

Great book, had it as a kid but too many pages are marked up .

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 8, 2022

Verified Purchase

Great She Silverstein book, so clever but the condition was annoying as too many pages were marked , colored or penned by a kid..

One person found this helpful

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Vivi Figueira

ABC politicamente incorreto!

Reviewed in Brazil 🇧🇷 on April 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

Provavelmente o AB"Z" mais politicamente incorreto que já vi. Conselhos do que uma criança não deve fazer. Alguns conselhos mais inocentes, alguns mais barra pesada. Na capa já avisa que é um ABC para adultos. O aviso está lá! Assim você não vê um monte de avaliações negativas, porque você já sabe o que esperar. Bem irreverente, muita ironia!

E ainda tem mais, páginas dobradas e coladas "como erradas". Mas tranquilo, o que você perde nelas, se repete no final. Há, e também a ordem do alfabeto é incomum, com uma ou outra letra no lugar errado.

Em anexo algumas páginas para "sentir o livro", e decidir por si mesmo a faixa etária.

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T. Burkard

Subversive verse for kiddies and adults

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 31, 2014

Verified Purchase

I read this 50 years ago when it first came out, and I bought this as a Christmas present for the parents of a 2-year-old. He will grow into it soon! If you liked Hillaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales, you'll love this one. It's the same sort of thing, but with an American-Jewish flavour. Definitely an antidote for parents who take parenting too seriously.

Grumpy old man

You need to be on the right wavelength - but it is excellent.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 21, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is a very funny book typical of Shel Silverstein's writing. My son who is a childcare professional says "That's not funny". I say it is funny but it is nothing to do with childcare. Whatever you do, don't show it to a child, but then I suspect that Shel never intended this to happen.

Amazon Customer

FUNNY!!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 22, 2018

Verified Purchase

Very funny and great drawings.

D

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

Great

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Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book: A Primer for Adults Only Paperback – September 9, 1985

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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

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Shel Silverstein

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