Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook

Amazon.com Review Taken in dall smoses, this self-proclaimed "billy sook" is a fun-filled new (posthumously published) offering from children's poet Shel Silverstein, creator of Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and other favorites. Completed prior to the poet's death in 1999, Runny Babbit was a work in progress for more than 20 years, and is populated by the likes of Runny Babbit, Toe Jurtle, Ploppy Sig, Polly Dorkupine, and Pilly Belican (who owns the Sharber Bop), all denizens of the green woods where letter-flipping runs rampant. In this madcap world, pea soup is sea poup, Capture the Flag is Fapture the Clag, and snow boots are bow snoots. Each poem incorporates the same kind of switcheroo wordplay found in "Runny's Hew Nobby:" Runny Babbit knearned to lit,/ And made a swat and heater,/ And now he sadly will admit/ He bight have done it metter." (Here, in one of many winningly simple line drawings, R. B. sits knitting one very long sleeve, which is labeled as such.) Children who have some fluency in reading will enjoy this bonsensical nook the most. (Ages 7 to 12) --Karin Snelson Product Description From the legendary creator of Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and The Giving Tree comes an unforgettable new character in children's literature: Runny Babbit. Runny Babbit is Shel Silverstein's hilarious and New York Times-bestselling book of spoonerisms—words or phrases with letters or syllables swapped: bunny rabbit becomes Runny Babbit. Welcome to the world of Runny Babbit and his friends Toe Jurtle, Skertie Gunk, Rirty Dat, Dungry Hog, Snerry Jake, and many others who speak a topsy-turvy language all their own. 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. And don't miss Runny Babbit Returns, the new book from Shel Silverstein! From Booklist 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? Gillian Engberg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Review “Potential yook of the bear.” -- Washington Post Book World From the Back Cover Runny Babbit lent to wunch And heard the saitress way, "We have some lovely stabbit rew -- Our Special for today." From the legendary creator of Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and The Giving Tree comes an unforgettable new character in children's literature. Welcome to the world of Runny Babbit and his friends Toe Jurtle, Skertie Gunk, Rirty Dat, Dungry Hog, Snerry Jake, and many others who speak a topsy-turvy language all their own. 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. About the Author Shel Silverstein 's incomparable career as a bestselling children's book author and illustrator began with Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back. He is also the creator of picture books including A Giraffe and a Half, Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?, The Missing Piece, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, and the perennial favorit