Review: Runny Babbit

A Billy Sook By Shel Silverstein

HarperCollins; 2005; 89 Pages

Juvenile Non-Fiction; Poetry

Ages: 4(read aloud to) -10 (independent reading)

ISBN: 0-06-025653-2

A posthumous book of poetry centering on a single character, Runny Babbit, and his world of mixed up phonemes!

My Thoughts:
Of course I loved this book. Not only does this book center around a rabbit main character, it also derives most of its humor from wordplay. In fact, to be honest, many of the poems, if read straight, are really not all that amusing. However, with the first sound of many of the words swapped, hilarity ensues. Some of the themes, such as knitting and reading, were personally intriguing as well. The book is not as diverse in meter, theme, and length as other Silverstein books. In fact, to some extent, I would not recommend sitting down and reading it straight through in one go. It's humor holds up better in smaller chunks.

This is a good book to introduce children to poetry. The poems are short, cleverly illustrated, and entertaining. This would also be a good book to use as a public speaking or recitation exercise. The poems beg to be read aloud...I would venture that they HAVE to be read aloud in order to be properly enjoyed. The intricate phoneme swaps would encourage children to enunciate and pay close attention to their words, while the poems are brief enough to keep recitation from being an ordeal.

The Thoughts of Others:
Lee Bock of School Library Journal in 2005 wrote that "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."

Kirkus Reviews published a review of Runny Babbit in March of 2005. They enjoyed it overall, but felt it "plays too long on a single trope."