Customer Reviews

Runny Babbit CD: A Billy Sook

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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!

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!

This crazy title gives some idea of what's going on between the covers of award-winning author/artist Shel Silverstein's bew nook, er, new book. You are now entering the backwards land of Toe Jurtle, Skertie Gunk, Rirty Dat and Dungry Hog, an imaginative series of adventures where all and sundry speak Runny Babbit talk.

Each page has a new rhyme (rhew nyme?) and one of Silverstein's humorous and endearing black and white illustrations, lines guaranteed to keep your child guffawing with the silly sounds that come from saying things backwards:

"When Ramma Mabbit started teachin'
Runny how to eat,
He ficked his pood up with his ears,
He wasn't very neat."

There's the rhyme about "His Kajesty the Ming", "Runny the Fricken Charmer", "Runny's Garty Pames" and "Runny Shearns to Lare."

Runny discovers the library:
"Runny lent to the wibrary
And there were bundreds of hooks-
Bistory hooks, beography gooks,
And lots and lots of bory stooks." ("Runny's Heading Rabits")

A wild celebration of the antics of language run amok, Silverstein has created page after page of laughs for children to read, challenging their reading and comprehension skills, the reward an hour of giggles. The author must have realized we would have our favorites- he added a table of contents listing each of the silly titles. Don't forget to "Bead a Rook" with your kid! (For all ages, but especially for a hysterical time with a favorite grandchild.) Luan Gaines/2005.

Six years after his passing comes this fitfully funny and silly new children's book, "Runny Babbit". Anyone who has young kids is sure to have at least one of Shel's books. They should be handed out at the hospital when you leave home with your new baby...they are that good!

In this book, Shel composes poems with lines where letters are switched on various words to come up with very silly verses accompanied by Shel's signature illustrations. You're almost certain to become tongue-tied as you try and read lines to your kids like, "Oh Ploppy Sig, oh pessy mig, Oh dilthy firty swine, Whoever thought your room would be As mig a bess as mine?" Soon you and your children will be having a good old time laughing as you try and get the words out. Also really helps build vocabulary as your kids figure out how the words should actually be.

There's over 40 of these tricky, silly word-play poems that will delight you and your children for many years to come. A great gift for grandparents to give as well.

Posthumously released six years after Shel Silverstein's passing away, RUNNY BABBIT has as much pertinence today as it would have then, or even the twenty-five years ago Shel began working on his little opus.

If it were only a simple gimmick that Shel wrote his series of short-story poems in a different "language" (swapping the first letters of certain words in each sentence around), the book would still be a mode of amusement and entertainment, solely because the way Shel developed the style in RUNNY BABBIT is so fun to say and read. It really shakes up your reading to find that, "Wait a second! That's wot written the nay I thought I was reading it!" This is especially true considering Shel spent such a long time writing the book, finding the best way to construct each sentence, choosing the best words possible to play with in his little anthology-o-neologisms.

Fortunately, and as always with Shel Silverstein however, the gimmick of playing with words as he did throughout is not the only seed of ingenuity that germinates in the book. The stories themselves are perfect allegories of our daily lives --falling in love, playing games, going to school, getting a haircut, having a baby-- all elements of an ordinary life told from a unique and fresh perspective.

And as any Shel Silverstein fan knows, his is a unique ability to create something that can be enjoyed by both inquisitive children and scholars alike for it's clear to tell through his entire oeuvre that Shel was well aware that the two are truly the same.

Having raised (with my wife) five daughters and two sons, and my academic background being in linguistics, I've long been a standing-applause fan of Shel Silverstein's books for kids. He's just the best there is, and there's no one in his category. Along with Shel's inimitable illustrations, the text keeps kids laughing by reversing the first sounds/letters of pairs of words, so the book offers a kind of interactive puzzle solving as the reader figures out the meaning of each pair, making the book lots of run to fead.

So here's Shel's triple-whammy formula:
1. His illustrations are consistently hilarious.
2. His rhymes and plays on words are original and comical.
3. His switched beginning sounds of word pairs sound and look funny.

Take it from me: kids will want to read this one over and over. You simply can't go wrong buying this one. Shel's no longer with us, but his mit and wagic will live on a tong, tong lime.

Lovers of Silverstein will cheer for this munny and fixed-up book! Only his cleverness could concieve of this original poetry. I think this title could win over non-poets, especially if challanged to read the book aloud! I couldn't believe how many times my brain tried to switch the letters back. This book is utterly readable and utterly original. What else could we expect from the beloved Shel Silvertein?

It is wonderful to see the return of the Spoonerisms! If you grew up on, or remember the "Pee Little Thrigs". Prinderella and the Crandsome Hince", you will not only rejoice, but shout the garled stories back and forth as our family did! Truly this is a delight and one can only imagine the great time being had today by Dr. Spooner and Shel Silverstein - wherever they are. If only we could hope their further explorations in this genra could come down to us..

I am a speech/language pathologist and this book was not only pleasure to read (laugh out loud funny) but I now use it in therapy with children with many speech and language problems. They laugh and get to use "nonsense" words as they practice new skills. Incidentally, I am buying this book for several people I know.
Deb