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.)