Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book

Much of the humor derives from a cynical drive to give the reader misleading, harmful advice.

A portion of the book originally appeared in a slightly different form in Playboy magazine.

Silverstein urges the reader to keep termites as pets, play hopscotch with real Scotch whisky and give their father a haircut while he sleeps.

He also tells kids that there is a real live pony inside the car (in order to encourage them to put sugar in the gas tank) and elves inside the TV set (likewise encouraging them to break the TV open with a hammer and let the "elves" out), repeatedly misspells "hippopotamus" and uses the letter "I" to inform readers that they can drink ink: Of course this is all offered in a humorous vein; nevertheless, some readers have been offended by the satire.

While some view the book's humor as directed towards adults, it was Silverstein's belief that children and elderly people should be treated no differently from anyone else.