Literature / Every Thing On It

I asked for a hot dog
With everything on it,
And that was my big mistake,
'Cause it came with a parrot,
A bee in a bonnet,
A wristwatch, a wrench, and a rake.
It came with a goldfish,
A flag, and a fiddle,
A frog, and a front porch swing,
And a mouse in a mask—
That's the last time I ask
For a hot dog with everything.

— "Every Thing On It"

Every Thing On It is a collection of poems by Shel Silverstein. It was published posthumously by Harper and Row Publishers in 2011. With more than 130 never-before-seen poems and drawings completed by Silverstein and selected by his family from his archives, the collection follows in the tradition and format of his acclaimed poetry classics, Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic and Falling Up.

Poems

• After
• All Packed
• Apple with One Bite Missing
• Asleep
• Ball Game
• Bee
• Before the Race
• Betty's Spaghetti
• Biography
• B.L. … What?
• Bottle Opener
• Burpin' Ben
• Call the Please
• Car with Legs
• Changing the Baby
• Cinderella
• Circle Road
• Clock Man
• Cloud Walking
• Crunch
• Dance of the Shoes
• Dirty Clothes
• Dirty Face
• Dirty Feet
• Dollhouse
• Don't Change on My Account
• Dumb
• Eatin' Soup
• Elvina
• Every Thing On It
• Finally
• Food?
• For a Rainy Afternoon
• For the World's Record
• Forgetful Witch
• Four Girl Pony
• Fourth Place
• Fred's Heads
• Friend
• Frightened
• Frog
• Game
• Garlic Breath
• The Genie in the Flask
• A Giant Mistake
• Going Up, Going Down
• Good Idea
• Growing Down
• Grumbling
• Hand Land
• Happy Birthday
• Happy Ending?
• Happy New
• He Tried to Hide
• Henry Hall
• Holding
• Horn
• Housebroken
• How Hungry Is Polly?
• I Did Knot
• I Didn't
• I Don't Know
• In Her…
• In Love
• In My Garden
• Investigating
• Italian Food
• Itch
• I've Got Your Nose
• Jake Says…
• Jimmy-Jack-John
• The Juggler
• Kid-Eating Land Shark
• King Tut's Skull
• Liar, Liar
• Lizard
• Looking for Santa
• Losing Pieces
• Love Is Grand but…
• Lovetobutcants
• Man-Eating Plant
• Masks
• Mer-Maid
• Milking Time
• Mistake
• Mouse in This House
• Mustache Mo
• My Hat
• My Zoootch
• Nasty Nancy's Store
• Nasty School
• Neal's Deals
• New Job
• Not an Egg
• The One Who Invented Trick or Treat
• Openin' Night
• Ouch!

• Pelican
• Pelican Egg
• Problem
• Pro's Advice
• Race
• Rainbow Thrower
• Rasslin'
• Riddle
• Romance
• Rude Rudy Reese
• Santa's Helper
• School
• The Scientist and the Hippopotamus?
• Shot
• Sign
• Slam Dunker
• Small Zoo
• Spider
• Stairway
• Stick-a-Tongue-Out Sid
• Storm
• Stubbornness
• Superstar
• These Boots
• This Hat
• Three Flamingos
• Tic-Tac-Toe
• Tiny Footprints
• The Toilet Troll
• Too Soon
• Trampoline
• Transparent Tim
• Turning into
• Twenty-eight Uses for Spaghetti
• Ugly Contest
• Underface
• Unhappy Here
• Walenda the Witch
• Wall Marks
• When I Am Gone
• Whoosh
• Why I'm Screamin'
• Wild Weed
• Writesingtelldraw
• Wrong Way
• Years from Now
• Yesees and Noees
• You'll Never Be King

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Contains examples of:

• Accidental Kidnapping: In "All Packed", a boy realizes that he accidentally packed his friend Joe in his suitcase while preparing for a trip.
• An Aesop: "For a Rainy Afternoon" suggests that engaging in mischievous behavior can result in consequences.
• Ambiguous Situation: "A Giant Mistake" leaves the question open-ended regarding who truly has control, the man or the giant.
• Anarchy Is Chaos: The poem "Nasty School" describes the disruptive and destructive activities taught at nasty school, such as smashing windows, ruining belongings, and causing general mayhem.
• Animal Athlete Loophole: "The Ball Game" showcases animals playing baseball, highlighting their unique abilities and adaptations for the game.
• Animal Jingoism: "In My Garden" presents a variety of animals engaging in human-like behaviors or activities, such as the bear dancing, kangaroos leaping, and monkeys nibbling on peanuts.
• Artistic License – History: In "King Tut's Skull", an archaeologist presents the discovery of two skulls as if they were genuine artifacts belonging to King Tut, although this might not be historically accurate.
• Bad Habits: In "Bottle Opener", a man admits to opening bottles with his teeth, despite the negative consequences it has had on his dental health.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • The poem "Apple with One Bite Missing" presents an apple that the narrator is willing to sell cheaply, but then reveals that it has a half-eaten portion and a worm inside it.
  • The poem "Finally" highlights Hairy Harry Neverchop's long-awaited visit to a barber shop after ninety-two years without grooming. However, his visit is not for a haircut, but for a shampoo.
  • "Pelican Egg" sets up the expectation of the narrator catching a pelican egg but delivers a surprise twist when the pelican drops some poop into the frying pan instead.
• Beauty Inversion: "The Ugly Contest" presents a reversal of the traditional association between beauty and desirability. The poem celebrates the supposed ugliness of the participants and declares the reader, who is described similarly, as the winner.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • In "The Genie in the Flask", a girl finds a genie in the magic flask, but while she expects the genie to grant wishes for her, she instead finds herself enslaved by the genie.
  • "Wrong Way" presents a scenario where a boy agrees to the friend's request to be buried up to his neck in the sand, only to realize that the outcome is not what he desired.
  • In "New Job", the narrator expresses their newfound dislike for candy shortly after starting a job in a candy store.
  • In "The Stairway", the narrator's desire to fill their eyes with burning gold leads them to climb the stairway to the sun. However, their expectation is met with a disappointing reality. The poem serves as a cautionary tale, highlighting the potential consequences of pursuing one's desires without considering the potential drawbacks or unintended outcomes.
• Benevolent Boss: In "One Who Invented Trick Or Treat", the dentist, despite inventing the phrase "Trick or treat," encourages children to indulge in a wide array of candy and sweets before reminding them to visit him for dental check-ups.
• Berserk Button: Ol' Dobbin, the horse in "How Hungry is Polly?", does not take kindly to expressions like "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse". When he hears Polly say it, he recounts the hardships and mistreatment he has endured throughout his life. He then says his appetite runs wild when he feels insulted, leading him to claim that he could eat a child.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • In "Love is Grand, But...", Miz' Pelican initially appears kind and loving towards a human boy and agrees to take him for a ride, but when her desire for food takes over, she drops him without hesitation.
  • In "How Hungry is Polly?", Ol' Dobbin initially appears gentle and calm but responds with a fierce and somewhat threatening monologue when Polly says "I could eat a horse".
• Beware the Silly Ones:
  • "Garlic Breath" portrays Seth, a seemingly harmless and playful boy with garlic breath, causing havoc and chaos with his breath.
  • In "I've Got Your Nose", the girl's seemingly innocent and silly prank turns out to have unexpected consequences for the boy, causing him to feel scared and horrified.
  • "Cloud Walking" delivers a seemingly lighthearted warning about walking on clouds, implying that there may be serious or dangerous consequences to consider.
• Bilingual Bonus: "Italian Food" incorporates several Italian food names into the rhyming lines.
• Bittersweet Ending: The ending to the poem "Mer-Maid" portrays the mermaid's mixed emotions — enjoying her time with the family but still yearning for her ocean home.
• Black-and-White Morality: "Yesees and Noees" presents two distinct species with opposing viewpoints. The Yesees unquestioningly say yes to everything, while the Noees stubbornly say no unless there is proof or testing.
• Black Comedy:
  • The poem "Elvina" presents a morbid and twisted scenario of Elvina falling into a hamburger grinder and being unknowingly consumed by her family.
  • "Going Up, Going Down" uses dark and morbid humor to depict an alligator eating people in the elevator.
• Body Horror:
  • "Transparent Tim" depicts the unsettling sight of Tim's transparent body, with his organs, bones, and even the remnants of past events visible to others.
  • At the end of "Dirty Feet", the winner of the dirty-foot contest, Sloppy-Sole Saul, is revealed to have no feet at all once his foot dirt is scraped away.
  • In "I've Got Your Nose", a girl steals a boy's nose and replaces it with one of her fingers as a prank.
• Boredom Montage: "For a Rainy Afternoon" describes a little boy's attempts to alleviate his boredom on a rainy day by engaging in a rapid succession of mischievous activities.
• Brain Freeze: "I Don't Know" describes a student's inability to remember or recall various facts, names, and details, causing a mental block or confusion.
• Breath Weapon: In "Garlic Breath", a little boy named Seth possesses a unique and destructive breath that causes chaos and unusual effects, such as breathing on the grass and causing it to die or breathing on an egg and frying it.
• Brutal Honesty: In "Love is Grand, But...", Miz' Pelican takes a boy for a ride, but when she sees a fish, she drops the boy without hesitation and states matter-of-factly that, while love is grand, lunch is lunch.
• Butt-Monkey:
  • In "Burpin' Ben", Ben faces negative reactions from others due to his constant burping, being called "gross" and not understanding why he doesn't have friends.
  • In "Four Girl Pony", the fourth girl is the unfortunate one who ends up being the horse's behind solely because she has a ponytail.
• Call-and-Response Song: "Happy New" presents a series of characters, each responding with their own version of "Happy New Year."
• The Call Knows Where You Live: In "Jimmy-Jack-John", Jimmy feels compelled to go out in the middle of the night in search of the dawn, despite the concerns of others.
• Cassandra Truth: In "Food?", a waiter at a restaurant warns a customer about the potential dangers and health risks associated with various food items on the menu. Because of this, the customer decides to stop eating altogether and starve himself.
• Character Development: The poem "Growing Down" introduces Mr. Brown, who is known for his constant complaints about the behavior of children. However, he is convinced to try acting like a child and "growing down", and as the poem progresses, he goes from a Grumpy Old Man to a Manchild as he rediscovers the joy and wonder of childhood activities, such as climbing trees, playing kick-the-can, and eating ice cream cones.
• Chekhov's Gun: "Looking for Santa" introduces the idea of not looking up the chimney on Christmas Eve, which becomes significant when a boy does exactly that and gets a face full of soot.
• Comedic Sociopathy: In "Asleep", a man's foot falls asleep when he sits down to eat. The man, frustrated by his foot's unwillingness to wake up, resorts to hitting it with a hammer in a misguided attempt to solve the problem.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • In "Bottle Opener", the narrator continues to open bottles with his teeth despite the negative feedback from his friends, leading to the loss of his teeth.
  • In "Milking Time", Nearsighted Norman's nearsightedness leads him to attempt milking a bull instead of a cow. The humor arises from Norman's misunderstanding of the situation, resulting in a comical and unexpected outcome.
• The Comically Serious: In "He Tried to Hide", a boy encounters various intimidating and dangerous monsters throughout his house, but the tone remains lighthearted and humorous.
• Comically Small Demand: "Nasty Nancy's Store" humorously depicts Nancy's store having limited stock and operating for a ridiculously short time, from 12:00 to 12:10.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Mo in "Mustache Mo" meets a bad end when his long mustache gets caught in the wheels of his moving train.
• Cursed with Awesome: "Garlic Breath" showcases the destructive consequences of Seth's garlic breath, which range from turning the air green to making a clock strike thirteen. Despite the chaos caused, the poem presents these effects as unusual and fascinating rather than wholly negative.
• The Cynic: In "Nasty Nancy's Store", Nancy's responses reflect a pessimistic and cynical attitude toward customer requests, implying a general lack of faith in meeting their needs or expectations.
• David Versus Goliath:
  • "A Giant Mistake" presents a situation where a man encounters a sleeping giant and attempts to capture him using a piece of twine.
  • "Slam Dunker" contrasts the idea of short people playing basketball with the common notion that height is a significant advantage in the sport.
• Deadly Game: "The Game" introduces a game called "Crook and Police Dog Rover," where the person playing the police dog kills the person playing the crook by biting them in the eye. The game is portrayed as a dangerous and potentially lethal activity, adding an element of suspense and morbidity to the poem.
• Deceptive Disciple:
  • In "One Who Invented Trick or Treat", the dentist, who is traditionally associated with promoting dental health, acknowledges the enjoyment of indulging in candy and sweets before revealing his identity.
  • "Henry Hall" showcases the contrast between Henry's dislike for basketball and the other boys' perception of his skills, highlighting the irony of their assumptions.
• Defeat by Modesty: In "Stick-a-Tongue-Out Sid", the once boastful and impudent Sid is humbled and silenced by the consequences of his actions.
• Denser and Wackier: In "Bee", the narrator's imagination takes the concept of a spelling bee and expands it into a series of increasingly bizarre and unconventional competitions. The progression from yelling to hitting, and from nagging to sleeping, showcases a heightened level of absurdity and creativity.
• Destroy the Evidence: In "A Mouse in This House", Uncle Ben's destructive rampage can be seen as an attempt to eliminate any trace of the mouse's presence in his house. He tears apart furniture, breaks fixtures, and even demolishes the structure itself in his obsessive pursuit.
• Determinator:
  • "Slam Dunker" highlights the importance of having the desire and effort to play basketball, suggesting that passion and perseverance can compensate for lacking physical attributes like height.
  • In "Why I'm Screamin'", the dentist persists in his pursuit of extracting his patient's tooth, traveling to multiple cities and employing various means, demonstrating unwavering determination.
  • In "Eatin' Soup", the narrator persists in eating soup with chopsticks despite the potential difficulties and time-consuming nature of the task.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In "B.L....What?", the girl's threat to make a sandwich out of the dog may be seen as an exaggerated or excessive response to the dog eating a tomato from her sandwich.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: At the end of "He Tried to Hide", the boy finally succeeds in hiding from all the monsters in his house by dreaming of tomorrow and continues hiding in his dreams.
• Epic Fail:
  • In "For the World's Record", a group of kids successfully create the world's longest hot dog but then realize that no one has baked the necessary bun to complete it.
  • In "Rude Rudy Reese", Rudy's ski trip turns into a series of comedic failures and mishaps due to his rude behavior and lack of manners.
  • In "Why I'm Screamin'", the dentist attempts various absurd and extreme methods to extract his patient's tooth, traveling to different cities and locations in the process, but fails to succeed.
  • In "Dumb", the narrator's actions result in serious injury, depicted through the illustration of the kid in various forms of bandages and medical support.
  • "Pelican Egg" depicts the narrator's quest to taste a pelican egg resulting in a failure when they catch pelican doo-doo instead.
  • "Eatin' Soup" presents the comical and likely impractical nature of using chopsticks to eat soup, highlighting the potential for the task to be difficult and inefficient.
  • In "Openin' Night", a girl's performance goes disastrously wrong, with a cascade of mishaps, giggles and boos from the audience, and even set and lighting failures.
• Exact Words:
  • In "Every Thing On It", a boy asks for a hot dog with everything on it. He gets a hot dog piled with a large number of random items, including a rake, a bee, a goldfish, a flag, a fiddle, and a front porch swing.
  • In "Wrong Way", a boy's friend takes his request to be buried up to his neck in the sand quite literally, resulting in a humorous and unexpected situation.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: In "Horn", the narrator describes the horn he bought as highly unusual and complicated, emphasizing its unconventional nature. The poem delivers what the title promises, focusing on the experiences and challenges associated with the horn and the narrator's attempts to play it.
• Failed a Spot Check:
  • In "The Scientist and the Hippopotamus?", the scientist's experiment goes wrong, with part of the hippo getting lodged in his throat.
  • "Pelican Egg" portrays the narrator's single-minded pursuit of a pelican egg, causing them to overlook or miss important details, such as mistaking pelican poop for an egg.
• Failure Is the Only Option: "Stubbornness" implies that the stubborn donkey and monkey will continue to sit by the railroad track without reaching a resolution, ultimately failing to make any progress in their journey.
• Faux Horrific: "Dirty Feet" humorously describes the dirty-foot contest and the extreme measures the participants take to have the dirtiest feet.
• Fear-Induced Idiocy: In the poem "Openin' Night", a woman is so overcome by Performance Anxiety that she ends up flubbing her line as "meow" when she's supposed to say "moo", which gets her laughed at by the audience.
• Fish out of Water: "Mer-Maid" describes a mermaid being captured and living with a human family, adapting to their lifestyle and performing household chores.
• Forgetful Jones: In "Forgetful Witch", a witch laments her inability to recall the exact spells and incantations she once knew, demonstrating forgetfulness about her magical knowledge.
• Forgotten Birthday: "I Don't Know" portrays a student being completely unaware of or forgetting important information right on the day of a big test.
• The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: The first poem in the book, "Years From Now", implies that Shel, even from some far-off place, can hear the readers' laughter while they flip through the poems, breaking the barrier between the work and the audience.
• Fourth-Wall Observer: In the final poem of the book, "When I Am Gone", Shel addresses the readers directly, inviting them to consider the future of his work and encouraging them to potentially step into his shoes as writers and artists.
• Fractured Fairy Tale: "Cinderella" presents a humorous twist on the traditional fairy tale. In this version, Prince Charming decides not to actively search for Cinderella based on the oversized glass slipper left behind, going against the typical narrative expectation.
• Gone Horribly Right: In "A Mouse in This House", Uncle Ben's initial belief about a mouse in the house spirals into destructive chaos. What starts as a simple search escalates into the destruction of his entire house in his obsessive quest to find the mouse.
• The Grinch: The poem "Nasty Nancy's Store" depicts Nancy as a grumpy and uncooperative storekeeper who refuses to accommodate the customer's needs or desires.
• Gross-Out Show:
  • "Dirty Feet" describes a contest where children with dirty feet gather to compete for the title of having the filthiest feet.
  • "Betty's Spaghetti" describes Betty accidentally sneezing into a bowl of spaghetti, resulting in an icky and gooey mess.
  • "Burpin' Ben" describes Ben's habit of burping, which is considered gross by those around him.
• Growing Up Sucks:
  • In "These Boots", a child acknowledges their current clumsiness and slow pace due to a pair of oversized cowboy boots that don't fit their feet yet. However, they hold onto the hope that in the future, as they grow and their feet get bigger, the boots will fit perfectly.
  • "Dollhouse" portrays a girl being told that she is too big to live in a dollhouse and must face the realities of living in a regular house.
• Happily Married: "The Romance" describes a pelican and an elephant getting married and enjoying their life together because the names of their species rhyme so well.
• Heartwarming Orphan: "Jake Says..." presents Jake's adoption in a positive light. Despite not being born to his parents, Jake expresses gratitude that they chose him, emphasizing the love and care he receives from his adoptive family.
• Hidden Depths:
  • In "This Hat", a man is ridiculed for wearing a silly-looking hat, but it is revealed on the next page that the hat perfectly fits the shape of his head.
  • In "You'll Never Be King", the little prince, despite his playful and unconventional behavior, displays a sense of ambition and a desire to bring joy and fun to his people. His belief that being king means allowing his subjects to have as much fun as he does reveals a deeper understanding of leadership and the potential for a different kind of monarchy.
• Humiliation Conga: In "Openin' Night", a girl experiences a series of humiliations during her performance, from missing cues and ripping her costume to forgetting lines and receiving negative reactions from the audience.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • "In Her..." portrays a woman wearing clothing items made from animals while protesting to save the whales.
  • "Liar, Liar" juxtaposes the childhood taunt of "Liar, liar, pants on fire" with the narrator's admission of continuing to lie even as they refute the physical exaggerations associated with lying.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: In "Unhappy Here", a boy yearns to be somewhere else and sent there by mail, believing that he will be happier in a different location than where he is now.
• I Will Wait for You: In "Writesingtelldraw", Shel talks about all the stories and poems he's told, the songs he's sung, and the pictures he's drawn, and asks the readers if they will reciprocate his creativity by writing, singing, telling, or drawing something for him in return.
• Imaginary Friend: The Zoootch in "My Zoootch" is portrayed as a companion to the boy, providing a sense of security and helping to keep nightmares at bay.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • In "I've Got Your Nose", a girl playfully steals a boy's nose, thinking it's cute, while the boy finds it silly and dumb.
  • In "Dirty Face", the child explains the various activities that led to their dirty face without realizing or considering the potential consequences or reactions of their actions.
• Ironic Echo:
  • In "Man-Eating Plant", the repetition of the gardener's questions and the plant's responses create an ironic contrast. The gardener innocently asks about Mister Mo, unaware that the plant has devoured him, while the plant matter-of-factly confirms Mister Mo's presence and actions before being eaten.
  • In "Looking for Santa", the narrator initially doesn't believe the warning about not seeing Santa Claus and then repeats the same warning to the reader after experiencing the consequences firsthand.
• It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time:
  • In "Too Soon", the narrator reflects on their decision to let their baby feed itself, only to witness the resulting mess and conclude that they may have acted prematurely.
  • In "For the World's Record", some kids are initially excited about making the world's longest hot dog without considering the practicality or feasibility of having the appropriate bun.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: "Burpin' Ben" suggests that despite his burping antics, Ben still longs for friendship and connection.
• Karmic Death: At the end of "Rude Rudy Reese", Rudy's lack of manners and failure to say "please" ultimately leads to him being eaten by a reptile.
• Laser-Guided Karma: In "Rude Rudy Reese", Rudy's rude behavior leads him to encounter a series of unfortunate events during his ski trip, including bouncing off rocks, getting caught in trees, falling in poo, being attacked by geese and bees, and finally, being eaten by a reptile.
• Limited Wardrobe:
  • "Small Zoo" presents a zoo that only has a small dog on a large chain, implying a lack of variety and diversity in terms of animal exhibits.
  • In "Nasty Nancy's Store", Nancy claims to be out of stock or not carrying the items the customer asks for, indicating a lack of variety or options in her store.
• Literal-Minded:
  • In "The Scientist and the Hippopotamus?", the scientist takes the belief that you can't eat anything bigger than you are quite literally and attempts to eat a whole hippopotamus, resulting in a humorous and unexpected consequence.
  • In "How Hungry is Polly?", the horse, Ol' Dobbin, takes Polly's expression "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" literally and responds with his own literal interpretation.
  • In "Not an Egg", the Rhymey Bird takes a boy's head to be an egg and waits for it to hatch, despite the boy's protests.
  • In "Tic-Tac-Toe", the narrator's friend, not understanding the rules of tic-tac-toe, interprets the narrator's instruction as an invitation to stick a tack in their toe.
  • In "Losing Pieces", the narrator takes common phrases literally, resulting in the loss of body parts. The phrases such as "talked my head off," "worked my tail off," and so on, are interpreted in a literal sense, leading to the humorous consequence of losing body parts.
  • In "Looking for Santa", a boy takes the statement "Don't look up the chimney on Christmas Eve" as a challenge and decides to do exactly that, resulting in an unpleasant encounter with soot.
• The Load:
  • "Henry Hall" reveals that the tall boy on the left, named Clumsy Paul, is not as skilled or competent in basketball as Henry.
  • In "Four Girl Pony", the fourth girl is given the least desirable role in the horse costume, symbolized by being the horse's behind.
• Loners Are Freaks: "Masks" features two characters with blue skin who wear masks to hide their true appearances and spend their lives searching for someone who shares their unique trait, but unknowingly pass by each other without recognizing their similarity.
• Mad Doctor: "Shot" highlights the doctor's casual and almost nonchalant attitude towards giving his patient a shot with a giant needle. The contrast between the doctor's lighthearted tone and the potentially painful or uncomfortable nature of the procedure adds a sinister or unsettling undertone to the poem.
• Magic Realism: "The Rainbow Thrower" presents the fantastical concept of a rainbow thrower who hurls colors across the sky. The poem combines elements of the magical and the ordinary, blurring the line between reality and imagination.
• Manipulative Bastard: "Good Idea" suggests a sneaky and manipulative plan to the reader. By encouraging the reader to convince their father to walk on his hands, with the ulterior motive of picking up the money that fell out of his pockets, the poem portrays a manipulative situation.
• Masquerade: "The Dance of the Shoes" portrays various pairs of shoes sneaking out of the closet at night to dance, implying that their lively activities are kept hidden from human observers.
• Memento MacGuffin: In "The Clock Man", the clock man is shown carrying numerous clocks, including one embedded on his forehead. These clocks serve as a symbolic representation of time and the passing of moments.
• Mistaken Identity: The illustration of "Henry Hall" initially misleads the readers by portraying the tall boy on the left as Henry Hall, creating a contrast between the readers' assumptions and the actual reality. Henry is actually a small, average-sized boy wearing a stovepipe hat with his initials on it, while the tall boy's name is Clumsy Paul.
• Monster Mash: "He Tried to Hide" features a variety of different monsters lurking in the boy's house, including ogres, tigers, dragons, mummies, witches, vampires, and werewolves.
• Mood Whiplash: In "Turning Into", the girl's exclamation of "Wow!" quickly shifts to a cry for her mom when she falls off the tree and hurts herself.
• Mundane Made Awesome:
  • "Bottle Opener" presents the act of opening bottles with teeth as a peculiar and attention-grabbing behavior.
  • "Call the Please" presents a humorous and exaggerated scenario where the police department changes its approach to crime by simply saying "please" to stop criminals.
  • "In My Garden" presents everyday activities, such as gathering honey, nibbling on peanuts, and sipping tea, in a lively and exciting manner.
  • "Italian Food" celebrates the enjoyment and appreciation of Italian food through the use of rhyming words.
  • "New Job" humorously exaggerates the narrator's dislike for candy after only two hours of working in a candy store.
  • "Betty's Spaghetti" humorously emphasizes the significance of Betty's sneeze in transforming the spaghetti into an icky and gooey mess, elevating a mundane event to an exaggerated and comedic level of importance.
  • "I Don't Know" takes ordinary questions about basic knowledge and presents them in a humorous and exaggerated manner, making them seem more grand or complex than they actually are.
  • "Investigating" humorously presents Professor Shore's scientific investigation of how an elephant's tail is attached to its body. The poem elevates this seemingly ordinary inquiry into an entertaining and unexpected turn of events.
  • "Sign" humorously elevates the significance of the simple hand sign of holding up two fingers, attributing various meanings to it, including victory, peace, and a request for two hamburgers.
  • "The Toilet Troll" presents the concept of a troll residing in a toilet, transforming an ordinary household object into a source of intrigue and suspense.
• Mundane Utility: "Twenty-eight Uses for Spaghetti" humorously lists various unconventional and creative uses for spaghetti noodles, turning them into everyday objects or tools.
• The Muse: The poem "Spider" depicts a spider living in the narrator's head, where it weaves a web to catch various aspects of the narrator's experiences, emotions, and dreams.
• The Napoleon: The illustration of "Henry Hall" depicts Henry as a small, average-sized boy wearing a stovepipe hat, but the poem reveals that he is a skilled basketball player.
• Narcissist: In the poem "In Love", a man with a long, twisty neck expresses his deep love and admiration for himself, desiring to see his reflection and revel in his own beauty.
• Naughty Is Good: "Nasty School" describes a school where only naughty and rowdy students are accepted, and where they are taught how to engage in mischievous and destructive behavior.
• Not So Above It All: In "You'll Never Be King", the prince's unconventional behavior mirrors the criticisms and doubts expressed by the queen, duke, and earl. While they see his actions as unfitting for a future king, the prince believes that his people should have the same freedom to enjoy life as he does.
• Now, Where Was I Going Again?: At the end of "He Tried to Hide", the boy, after encountering multiple monsters in his attempts to hide from the glunk, ultimately returns to bed and continues dreaming.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • In "Too Soon", the narrator realizes the extent of the mess created by their baby's attempts at self-feeding, leading to a realization that they may have introduced this independence too soon.
  • The illustration for "The Storm" shows the people in town panicking and trying to run away from the falling spices and giant silverware coming from the sky.
• One-Person Birthday Party: In "Happy Birthday", nobody comes to the narrator's birthday party. He doesn't care because he gets to eat all the ice cream and tea.
• Only Sane Man: In "Fourth Place", a girl points out the absurdity of coming in fourth place in a beauty contest with only three participants.
• Passing the Torch: In "When I Am Gone", Shel wonders who will take over his role as a writer and illustrator, entertaining readers with poetry and artwork.
• Performance Anxiety: In "Openin' Act", a girl experiences nervousness and anxiety while performing in a play, leading to a series of mishaps.
• The Quiet One: In the poem "In My Garden", Queen Ruth is described as sipping tea under the vines, suggesting a calm and serene demeanor.
• Recursive Fanfiction: "Writesingtelldraw" presents Shel's work as an invitation for the readers to participate and create their own stories, songs, poems, or drawings as an extension of his original material.
• Refusal of the Call: "Stubbornness" depicts a donkey and a monkey refusing to carry each other across the road, resulting in a stalemate.
• Remembered I Could Fly: In "Forgetful Witch", the witch reflects on her past abilities and tries to recall the specific incantations and spells she has forgotten.
• Revenge by Proxy: In "Stick-a-Tongue-Out Sid", when Sid sticks his tongue out at a girl named Helen McHatter, she takes matters into her own hands and punishes Sid by tying him up with his own tongue.
• Ridiculous Procrastinator: In "Not an Egg", the Rhymey Bird stubbornly sits on the boy's head, waiting for the "egg" to hatch, even though it is not an egg at all.
• The Runner-Up Takes It All: In "Fourth Place", a girl feels disappointed for not achieving the first-place position she believed she deserved. Despite being the fourth-place finisher (despite the beauty contest only having three participants), she feels devastated and expresses her frustration at not being the winner.
• Scare 'Em Straight: In "My Zoootch", the Zoootch's presence on the bed acts as a deterrent, scaring away nightmares and preventing them from occurring.
• Secret Relationship: In "Holding", two people fear that someone might see them holding hands, so they opt for a more discreet form of physical connection by holding feet instead.
• Servant Race: In "Mer-Maid", the mermaid is captured and forced to work as a maid for the family, performing household chores and providing entertainment.
• The Slacker: In "The Lovetobutcants", the narrator openly admits to being lazy and unwilling to participate in any work or chores.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In "Turning Into", the girl's moment of bravery and excitement ends abruptly when she falls off the tree branch and experiences pain, causing her to call out for her mom.
• Swiper, No Swiping!: In "Call the Please", the Please Department successfully stops crimes by politely asking perpetrators to cease their actions.
• Swiss-Army Weapon: "Twenty-eight Uses for Spaghetti" showcases spaghetti noodles being used for a wide range of purposes, resembling the versatility and multi-functionality of a Swiss Army Knife.
• Tempting Fate:
  • In "Turning Into", a girl feels brave while swinging from a hickory bough and exclaims "Wow!" in a moment of excitement. However, this exclamation leads to her falling off the tree and hurting herself.
  • In "Mustache Mo", the titular train conductor's excessively long mustache becomes a hazard when it gets caught in the wheels of his train.
  • "Cloud Walking" warns the reader to be careful when walking on clouds, implying that there may be dangers or consequences associated with such an action.
• Time Abyss: "The Clock Man" features the titular clock man visiting a boy at different stages of his life, representing the passage of time.
• Time Stands Still: "The Clock Man" explores the concept of time and the value placed upon it. The child initially values each day as countless smiles and does not see the need for an extra day, while the perspective changes as the child grows older and, eventually, faces mortality.
• Truth in Television: "Liar, Liar" explores the idea that people continue to lie even as they grow older, despite the childhood notion that lying is associated with physical manifestations like a long nose or pants on fire.
• Underdogs Never Lose: "Slam Dunker" emphasizes that short people can play basketball and succeed, challenging the conventional belief that height is a requirement for the sport.
• The Unfettered: "Yesees and Noees" contrasts the extreme behaviors and outcomes of the Yesees and the Noees. The Yesees are so unrestrained in their agreement that they suffer from excess, while the Noees are so rigid in their skepticism that they succumb to fear. The Thinkforyourselfees, who strike a balance, avoid the extremes and fare better.
• Unreliable Narrator:
  • In "Apple with One Bite Missing", the narrator attempts to sell an apple while downplaying the flaws and presenting it as a good deal. However, the reader can discern that the apple is not in pristine condition.
  • In "King Tut's Skull", the archaeologist's claims about the skulls belonging to King Tut might be exaggerated or false.
• Unwanted Assistance: In "Santa's Helper", Santa fires one of his elves because his playful behavior interferes with the productivity and quality of the toys being made in the workshop.
• Weather of War: "Storm" portrays falling spices and giant silverware coming down from the sky as elements of a chaotic and destructive storm.
• Witch Classic: "Walenda the Witch" introduces a witch character, Walenda, who deviates from the traditional image of a witch by using a vacuum cleaner for flying instead of a broom.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: In "The Lovetobutcants", the narrator feigns physical weakness and ailments to garner sympathy and avoid doing any work.

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When I am gone what will you do?
Who will write and draw for you?
Someone smarter—someone new?
Someone better—maybe YOU!

— "When I Am Gone"