Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook

Shel Silverstein’s final poetry collection, Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook, published several years after his death, will surely please any fan hoping for one last laugh with the popular poet. Although not quite as successful as his other classics, Where the Sidewalk Ends or The Giving Tree, anyone faithful to the warmth and humor of Silverstein’s poetry and illustrations will not be disappointed by Runny Babbit.
Runny Babbit, as you might have guessed, is a bunny rabbit. Silverstein introduces Runny’s world at the opening of the book as such: “They do thing and they say things/In a different sort of way--/Instead of sayin’ ‘purple hat’/They say ‘hurple pat’.” The entirety of the book continues in this way, with short show more poems typical of the author that dive straight to the joke.
Runny Babbit is the sort of book with the potential to either frustrate reluctant readers or be their savior. Most likely it will be the latter, as the rhymes are simply patterned and predictable, and a child should feel safer to make mistakes since most of the words are scrambled in the first place. Silverstein’s work has a freshness to it that does not fade with rereading; just the sort of author one would want to read as a child only to find that you cannot wait to someday read it to your children and your children’s children. show less

This collection of poetry from Shel Silverstein focuses around one character he created called "Runny Babbit" (aka, a bunny rabbit). The entirety of the book features poems in which the first few letters of one word have been swapped with the first few letters of another. For instance, the introductory poem is as follows:

Way down in the green woods
Where the animals all play,
They do things and they say things
In a different sort of way--
Instead of sayin' "purple hat,"
They all say "hurple pat."
Instead of sayin' "feed the cat,"
They just say "ceed the fat."
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.

One or two poems like this can be funny, but a 90-page book full of them gets show more tiring. This is a pity, because many of the poems would be funny on their own, as they are full of Silverstein's tongue-in-cheek wit and accompanied by illustrations that complete the joke. For example, another poem reads:

One day Runny Babbit
Met little Franny Fog.
He said, "Let's have a nicpic
Down by the lollow hog."
He brought some cutter bookies,
Some teanuts and some pea.
And what did Franny Fog bring?
Her whole fog framily.

The illustration shows an overwhelmed Runny Babbit in front a tiny picnic setting being approached by nearly 20 frogs. This poem would be just as funny -- arguably, funnier -- without the letter rearrangement.

I can't even imagine how frustrating this book must be to read aloud, especially for beginning readers. This book is obviously designed for those with a good grasp on reading already and thus able to appreciate the wordplay. Given how popular "pig Latin" has remained over the years, I can see how some kids might find this book hysterical. But personally it felt like reading a running gag that had outrun its humor. show less

Shel Silverstein’s posthumously published Runny Babbit is a pleasure to read aloud, incorporating familiar rhymes into the phonetically mixed-up world of Runny Babbit and his friends. In their woodland home, the animals switch the first letters of many words, and the result is a distinctive linguistic form: “Runny had to bake a that/Before they’d sive him gupper./He got so tungry in the hub,/He ate the rat of mubber.” Although early readers may struggle a little to identify words, the correct pronunciation of the new word, based on the intended meaning, will help enormously (which is where the reading aloud comes in). Some poems combine classics with the new linguistic form: “Dankee Yoodle dent to wown/Piding on a rony”, show more making them easier to understand. The book follows a very loose chronology, from Runny Babbit’s infancy through his own delivery of a “bittle laby” from “Sticky Dork.” And as always, the simple illustrations in the classic Shel Silverstein style enhance the text, adding an additional comic dimension of their own. Overall, this book is a delight and is “righly hecommended for eaders of all rages.” show less

This is my choice for a book of poetry for the 2016 Reading Challenge. I am not a fan of poetry unless it's accompanied by some roasting good music; and I almost despise sentimental muck about a dearly departed or some lover who has also departed - or not. This was an excellent book for me to read since it was a 'Billy Sook' and it was about a 'Runny Babbit'. Shel Silverstein took situations that are 'a day in the life of' and turned them into poems with transposed letters to create a mind twisting picnic of fun. I had a great time reading the poems, although I could only read a few at a time since they did play with your perceptions. Technically, the poems are straight-forward iambic pentameter accompanied with line drawings. They are show more better if read aloud, but don't attempt this after a glass of wine. Such fun! show less

If you have children who like wordplay and silliness, you must read them this book. If you don't, you must find some children and read it to them. But practice first. It's harder to read than Fox in Socks (another of our family's favorites). As you probably already guessed from the title, Runny Babbit and his friends have an unusual quirk, they tend to litch swetters as tey thalk. It gets sillier and sillier, and Silverstein's manic genius really shines through. My daughter (the five year old) got the giggles so bad when I said, "ficken charmer," that I was afraid she wouldn't be able to breathe.

The page that sent them both completely around the bend was the one in which Runny Babbit sits down in a chair marked PET WAINT. It goes like show more this:

His ears are stet and wicky,
His taws are sticky, poo.
His whiskers are all icky,
His gur is full of foo.
His butt is plue and burple,
His rail is ted, indeed.
Why? Because poor Runny Babbit
Never rearned to lead.

Something tells me we're going to have to read this one and the book of Ogden Nash poems we checked out from the library again tomorrow night. show less

I love this book! The illustrations are just wonderfully simple and accompany the words on the page perfectly. The book is a very funny concept Runny Babbitt, the author uses a verbal error called spoonerism throughout the book. Spoonerism is when the speaker switches the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect. Shown in the title Runny Babbit or Bunny Rabbit, the author continues to utilize spoonerisms through the entire book. It is impossible not to laugh as you attempt to read this book fluently. Since the letters are transposed the brain attempts to read the word as it thinks it should be slowing down the process in which one reads. I love this book and read this to my niece over Thanksgiving break. show more She is four and laughed the entire time I was read and thought I was changing the words on purpose. This book is also in a free verse style of poetry, seeing as I have never loved poetry I can say Shel Silverstien may have changed my mind. show less

I remember my mother got this for her classroom. How delightful to have a new Silverstein to read, and with spoonerisms no less! She was, however, not that interested in my history of Rev. Spooner.