Sheldon Allan "Shel" Silverstein (September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999),[1][2] was an American poet, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of children's books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in his children's books. Translated into more than 30 languages, his books have sold over 20 million copies._Excerpt "Shel Silverstein From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia."