Runny Babbit

Starred review from January 17, 2005
In what may be the definitive book of letter-reversal wordplay, late author-illustrator Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends
) composes poems about cottontail Runny Babbit. He illustrates the verse in his signature devil-may-care ink line on bare white pages, and performs letter switcheroos to the point of reader exhaustion. An introductory poem explains the technique: "If you say, 'Let's bead a rook/ That's billy as can se,'/ You're talking Runny Babbit talk/ Just like mim and he." The exchange of consonants results in a new language, producing Lewis Carroll nonsense or placing familiar words in skewed contexts; for instance, Runny's family includes "A sother and two bristers,/ A dummy and a mad," which says a lot about parents. Runny also has an untidy porcine friend, leading him to sing a serenade with an Edward Learish zest and a classic Silverstein twist at the end, "Oh Ploppy Sig, oh pessy mig,/ Oh dilthy firty swine,/ Whoever thought your room would be/ As mig a bess as mine?" Signs posted on Runny's wall remind him, "tick up your poys," "peed your fet" and "bon't delch"; a restaurant serves "dot hogs" and "boast reef."
Silverstein also revises ditties such as "Dankee Yoodle" and runs roughshod over politeness ("Stand back! I'm Killy the Bid,/ And I'm fookin' for a light!"). Move over Hinky-Pink: this is sure to become the new classroom wordgame favorite. Silverstein's many fans will snap up this extended set of more than 40 puzzlepoems. All ages.

March 1, 2006
Gr 2-8 -Forty-two of Shel Silverstein -s poems from his best-selling book (HarperCollins, 2005), published posthumously, are performed by Dennis Locorriere. The poems are spoonerisms -the initial sounds of two words are transposed, so -Bunny Rabbit - become -Runny Babbit. - The poems beg to be read aloud and Locorriere, who has performed Silverstein -s poems in the past, has the perfect speed, pitch, and voice range to deliver these silly poems. The wordplay and rhymes will tickle listeners - funny bones. Kids may even be inspired to write their own spoonerisms after listening to this delightful CD. Schools will find this useful as a perfect example of this unusual form of poetry. Children and adults will be entertained by this humorous collection. A gem. -"Marilyn Hersh, Hillside Elementary School, Farmington Hills, MI"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2005
Gr. 2-4, younger for reading aloud. Completed prior to his death in 1999, Silverstein's last collection is a celebration of the spoonerism, the verbal game of transposing words' first consonants. Each poem stars Runny Babbit, a skew-eared bunny of indeterminate age and multiple personas. Sometimes Runny is out on dates with his girlfriend; sometimes he is Everychild, with chicken pox and a messy room. Particularly funny are selections that insert Runny into familiar tales with a gleeful, subversive spin; in one scene, for example, Prince Runny searches for Cinderella, "slass glipper" in paw, but finds, instead, only "lots of felly smeet." Although the book doesn't have the extraordinary wit and polish of Silverstein's earlier collections, it will still please the author's numerous fans with its silly scenarios and expressive ink drawings. Kids will instantly adopt the infectious wordplay on the subjects straight from their daily lives: Will it be a "peanut jutter and belly" or "sam handwich" for lunch?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)

April 1, 2005
Gr 2-8 -In this "billy sook," which was a 20-year work-in-progress, readers are introduced to Runny Babbit and his friends Toe Jurtle, Skertie Gunk, Goctor Doose, and Millie Woose, and are encouraged to plunge headlong into this phonemic flip-flop world of funny poems. "So if you say, 'Let's bead a rook/That's billy as can se, '/You're talkin' Runny Babbit talk, /Just like mim and he." Complete with signature comical bold line drawings that provide visual clues, the poems require concentration to translate the silly phrases: "Runny fad a hamily -/Matter of fact, he had/A sother and two bristers, /A dummy and a mad." Children will love these clever poems and without prompting will probably create their own, unaware that they are focusing on a key reading skill: phonemic awareness. This is a treasure." -Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2005
In this very "billy sook," the words throughout the poems swap first and occasionally second letters. Runny Babbit, the book's hero, and his friends (including Ploppy Sig and Rirty Dat) are drawn in Silverstein's signature style, both comical and endearing. In the end, despite the wearying strain of decoding the poems, readers will find Runny both lovable and memorable.

(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2005
It's been nine years since the publication of Falling Up and six since Silverstein's death, so this new book is a surprising treat. As the title warns, it is a very "billy sook" indeed, as the words throughout the poems swap first and occasionally second letters, so "instead of sayin' 'purple hat,' / They all say 'hurple pat.'" Runny Babbit, the book's hero, and his friends (including Ploppy Sig and Rirty Dat) are drawn in Silverstein's signature style, both comical and sweetly endearing, in black ink on refreshingly plain white pages. Silverstein's wit and irony are everywhere apparent, as in "Runny Shearns to Lare": "Runny got the picken chox / And had to bay in sted, / With sped rots on his belly / And sped rots on his head. / His friends all gave him sicken choup, / Bumgalls and bicorice lends. / And guess what little Runny Babbit / Fave to all his griends!" The picture, of course, shows Runny's disgusted-looking friends covered with chicken pox. Each poem reflects a new side of the beleaguered Runny, and in the end, despite the wearying strain of decoding the poems, readers will find Runny both lovable and memorable.

(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)