Max’s Musings: Shel Silverstein

A Light in the Attic, like other works, was banned for Silverstein’s depiction of challenging authority, igniting disrespectful behavior, and promoting disobedience. The book’s most “problematic” poem “How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes” puts a spin on chores and suggests children to break dishes to escape washing them.

With children making up Silverstein’s target audience, the book made its way across households and schools until it was ultimately banned in both Wisconsin and Florida. Considering this, I knew it was a necessary read as I wanted to investigate it further. The poem I chose for this week is “A Light in the Attic” that shares the same name as the collection and appears first.