Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook [Hardcover]

Shel Silverstein (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: March 15, 2005 | Age Range: 1 - 8 years

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.

Editorial Reviews

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

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 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 © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 1 - 8 years
  
• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; First Edition, First Printing edition (March 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060256532
• ISBN-13: 978-0060256531
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Humorous

More About the Author

"And now, children, your Uncle Shelby is going to tell you a story about a very strange lion- in fact, the strangest lion I have ever met." So begins Shel Silverstein's very first children's book, Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back. It's funny and sad and has made readers laugh and think since it was published in 1963. It was followed the next year by three more books. The first of them, The Giving Tree, is a moving story about the love of a tree for a boy. Shel returned to humor the same year with A Giraffe and a Half, delighting readers with a most riotous ending. The third book in 1964 was Uncle Shelby's Zoo Don't Bump the Glump! and Other Fantasies, Shel's first poetry collection, and his first and only book illustrated in full color. It combined his unique imagination and bold brand of humor in this collection of silly and scary creatures. Shel's second collection of poems and drawings, Where the Sidewalk Ends, was published in 1974. His recording of the poems won him a Grammy for best Children's Album. In this collection, Shel invited children to dream and dare to imagine the impossible, from a hippopotamus sandwich to the longest nose in the world. With his next collection of poems and drawings, A Light in the Attic, published in 1981, Shel asked his readers to turn the light on in their attics, to put something silly in the world, and not to be discouraged by the Whatifs. Instead he urged readers to catch the moon or invite a dinosaur to dinner- to have fun! A Light in the Attic was the first children's book to break onto the New York Times Bestseller List, where it stayed for a record-breaking 182 weeks. The last book that was published before his death in 1999 was Falling Up (1996). Like his other books, it is filled with unforgettable characters. Shel Silverstein's legacy continued with the release of a new work,Runny Babbit, the first posthumous publication conceived and completed before his death and released in March 2005. Witty and wondrous, Runny Babbit is a poetry collection of simple spoonerismsH, which twist the tongue and tease the mind. Don't Bump the Glump! And Other Fantasies was recently reissued in 2008 after being unavailable for over 30 years. Shel was always a believer in letting his work do the talking for him--few authors have ever done it better.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 70 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It lights up even the gloomiest day March 26, 2005

By Atheen M. Wilson TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Shel Silverstein's books are a treat for anyone with a silly turn of mind. I thoroughly enjoyed Falling Up and found the Giving Tree heart warming. Runny Babbit a Billy Sook is another supurb example of the writer's style. The characters are dear, and the poems are delightful and skillfully crafted. My husband and I read them to one another one Sunday morning when we were off work together and enjoyed every minute.

I can see pre-readers enjoying the mystery in the entangled words and older readers enjoying the nonsense of the whole thing. Adolescents may find the book "too childish" as they self-consciously attempt to achieve an adult persona, but most adults will enjoy the book for the shear childlike joy it expresses.

The man will live forever in the hearts of his readers.

93 of 101 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sly on the Tripper, if it Pits, You're a Frincess March 28, 2005

By bensmomma VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Runny Babbit made my daughter slit her spides laughing, because he balks tackward. In one poem, he cooks for Linderella (who slies on the tripper). In another he wears a bowboy cat. In another his Romma Mabbit instructs him to use his slapkin not his neeve. In a rancy festaurant he eats chied fricken and oiled beggs!

The crawings are mighty dute, too! If your kid bistens to looks, they will think it founds sunny! If your kids rikes to lead by him/herself, she will feel clery vever to recite these lymes out roud!

It is very very boyful jook!

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Shel Silverstein August 7, 2005

By Carolyn Rampone VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

What fun!! This is Silverstein at his best. I opened the book with a little trepidation, knowing this was most probably the last time I will get to read a new Shel Silverstein book. I quickly got over that and realized Shel's books were meant to be savored and read over and over again. As with "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and "Falling Up," "Runny Babbit" was written by a man who was just a little kid at heart. I had trouble reading it out loud the first time but kids won't miss a beat. His books bring out the kid in all of us and are the most perfect gift for the young and young at heart. All Silverstein books are priced inexpensively to make them more accessible to kids, a huge plus since his books are keepers and givers.
HarperCollins must be joking when they list this book for ages 9-12. I think they missed the mark by about 30 years.
Very highly recommended!