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416th out of 2,250 books
—
3,512 voters
Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook
Runny Babbit lent to wunchAnd 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, Du...more
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, Du...more
Hardcover, 96 pages
Published
March 15th 2005
by HarperCollins
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20th out of 39 books
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66 voters
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Definitely a very creative work of Shel Silverstein (1930-1999) who is also the author of the 1964 book, "The Giving Tree" that I enjoyed so much I bought copies of which and gave away to my friends. I think I did that in 2001 not knowing that he just died a couple of years back. I also only learned that he's already dead by reading the Wiki while composing this review. Felt so sad.
The story's main protagonist is Runny Babbit whose actual name is Bunny Rabbit but for unknown reason he and all th...more
The story's main protagonist is Runny Babbit whose actual name is Bunny Rabbit but for unknown reason he and all th...more
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I have never, ever, ever heard my son laugh as hard as he does when his dad reads this book to him. If you had a syndrome whereby smiling would kill you, and you heard Henry chortling uncontrollably while reading Runny Babbit, you would smile despite yourself, and then you would die. What was my point? It's a good book.
I thought this book was super cute and perfect for someone feeling a little down on themselves. In this book, the author, Shel Siverstein, switches up the first letter of one word and the first letter of another word. The way that Shel Silverstein talked about the Runny Babbit was absolutely adorable. Along with Dr. Suess, he creates stories around the one character, which I really love. I'd recommend this book to anyone with a great imagination and that likes a good laugh because of the situati...more
This book certainly kept me entertained while I tried to read the jumbled up words and try and make sense of the sentences I was reading.
This story is about a rabbit on a simple adventure, however the clever quirk that the author inhibits within the story is to change the first letter of certain words with another letter of a word e.g runny Babbit.
This book would be great to use as a game during a phonics lesson or just at the end of the day before the children go home. They could challenge the...more
This story is about a rabbit on a simple adventure, however the clever quirk that the author inhibits within the story is to change the first letter of certain words with another letter of a word e.g runny Babbit.
This book would be great to use as a game during a phonics lesson or just at the end of the day before the children go home. They could challenge the...more
This was published posthumously, as, I believe, was Shel Silverstein’s first collection of poems (Don’t Bump the Glump), and I am glad to have a chance, as an adult, to read two more books from the pen of my favorite childhood poet. In many ways, Runny Babbit is a typical collection of Shel Silverstein poetry, but with two differences from his norm: they all deal with the same central character (Runny Babbit), and the letters of some words are switched.
I read this together with my daughter, and...more
I read this together with my daughter, and...more
I have a disease. It is called R.E.B.S. syndrome. The R.E.B.S. syndrome is a rare and unconventional disease that has been the bane of many authors/readers. It is a psychologically degenerative affliction that rapidly abrogates common sense in place of an impulsive literary kleptomania. R.E.B.S. syndrome is particularly dangerous in crowded, densely populated libraries where one R.E.B.S.er has the misfortune of being locked into and killed by rabid bookends and/or renegade thesaurus junkies. You...more
Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein is a fun and engaging book for students of all ages. It is about a Bunny Rabbit who speaks a different language with his friends. They interchange the first letters of two words to come up with new words, such as his name "Runny Babbit." This entire book is comprised of poems about events that Runny does with his friends and family and they are all written in this made up language. At first it is kind of hard to adapt to reading the words incorrectly but it is a...more
Oh, my, I wasn't even halfway through the book of 'Runny Babbit' and I was disrupting my husband's tv viewing with laughter! I not only enjoyed the silly way Silverstein twisted the words, but also interpreting the words as I read to give my brain a little work-out. I couldn't resist grinning and wondering about the author as I skipped through the delightful short stories about Runny. Now I remember why my son put Silverstein on his favorite authors list as a child. I can recall fond memories of...more
Shel Silverstein, the popular children's poet, kept one of his best works until the end of his life. Published posthumously, this collection of silly rhymes about a bunny might be a merely pleasant diversion, except for the fact that most phrases have some consonants switched around, producing very funny results, as in:
Dankee Yoodle tent to wown
Piding on a rony
He stuck a heather in his fat
And malled it cacaroni
This kind of wordplay is likely to produce gales of laughter in a preschool/elemen...more
Dankee Yoodle tent to wown
Piding on a rony
He stuck a heather in his fat
And malled it cacaroni
This kind of wordplay is likely to produce gales of laughter in a preschool/elemen...more
Apr 13, 2010
Katie
added it
Genre: poetry
Number of pages: 89
Grade level/age: 9-12
Theme: animals
Summary:
In the Green Woods, all the animals talk strangely. They wix up their mords, like this. They call this dialect, Runny Babbit talk.
Personal Response:
I personally love Shel Silverstein. When looking for books to add to this bibliography, I came across the Runny Babbit and knew I just had to include it! I love that he mixes up the first letter of two words. I guess it reminds me of my dad's sense of humor. At any r...more
Number of pages: 89
Grade level/age: 9-12
Theme: animals
Summary:
In the Green Woods, all the animals talk strangely. They wix up their mords, like this. They call this dialect, Runny Babbit talk.
Personal Response:
I personally love Shel Silverstein. When looking for books to add to this bibliography, I came across the Runny Babbit and knew I just had to include it! I love that he mixes up the first letter of two words. I guess it reminds me of my dad's sense of humor. At any r...more
I read the book “Runny Babbit” by Shel Silverstein. This was his last book he wrote, which was released in in 2005 after his death in 1999. This was an ongoing work in progress for twenty years. This book was a specialized individual anthology. It should be read by Primary and Intermediate students, which are ages 5-12. This book could be read aloud to younger children. It is a great way to give them new vocabulary. It can be read to themselves when they are older and able to understand the voca...more
This would be a great book to use in a first or second grade class. It would be a great way to show children how fun words can be. In the book the animals talk in runny rabbit talk. What this means is that the when an animal talks they switch the first letters of each word around. For example is an animal said “words are fun” it would read “fords are wun.” A fun activity to do with this book is to have the children come up with their own classroom language by switching word letters around. A dec...more
Max read a couple of selections from this book as the jester in our Toastmasters meeting. I thought it was hilarious. He said that it winds his kids up so much that they have banned the book after 7:30 P.M., but since Toastmasters was at Noon, we could read a little. I knew in an instant that it was *just* the book for my kids. Sometimes when Lauren or I read to them, we intentionally mix up words and letters to make things more interesting. This always gets them to laugh. And this book does tha...more
Oct 01, 2010
Patsy Ann
added it
I read this book and I thought it was going to be a funny, cheerful poetry book, for I have already read most of Shel Silverstein's poetry books. I mean I thought the book was okay, but with the words mixed up, it made me REALLY confused. When I thought the book would be an actual STORY, it ended up being just words that made no sense. I think the book would have been a better story with the mixed up letters if the plot was a lot better! It was just about a bunny's life, not his troubles, or any
...more
2nd Grade and up: Read-Aloud/Independent Reading
According to the inside cover, preceding his death, Shel Silverstein had merely complied this book, it took outside assistance to have “Runny Babbit” published. Silverstein is famous for his unique style, but this particular collection of poems is even more unconventional; in every poem found in this book (from the title to the closing poem) he takes the first letter from one word and switches it with another in that sentence creating nonsense wor...more
According to the inside cover, preceding his death, Shel Silverstein had merely complied this book, it took outside assistance to have “Runny Babbit” published. Silverstein is famous for his unique style, but this particular collection of poems is even more unconventional; in every poem found in this book (from the title to the closing poem) he takes the first letter from one word and switches it with another in that sentence creating nonsense wor...more
I thought this a bupid thook initially. Shel Silverstein's inimitable humorous style uses the convention of swapping first consonants of adjoining pairs of words to make with the silly. It gets eye-rollingly annoying after about three pages. The pairings are occasionally snort out loud funny, and clever children will get a kick out of the poems about Runny Babbit, Toe Jurtle and others, but I got a headache, one of those sharp ones that usually comes from eating ice cream, and wasn't willing to...more
Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook by Shell Silverstein was published after his passing. The masterful poet wrote these funny poems and they were compiled by his family. The letters of the words in the poem are rearranged to create a hilarious sounding poem that kids of all ages will enjoy. For example in the poem Runny Heeds Fimself we read the funny lines: "He ficked his pood up with his ears,/ He wasn't nery veat." With the help of the illustrations the poems are fun to read. More importantly, the po...more
We really like this book... a book of spoonerisms. I like it especially since I like to randomly talk or sing switching the first consonants in words near each other!
This is my favorite example (not from the book). I probably sang this in the car a dozen times over the holidays... the kids always think it's funny (I can be a bit of a comedian around my kids and their friends in case you didn't suspect).:
Bingle Jells
Snashing through the dough
In a one-horse sopen leigh
O'er the gields we foe
Waffing...more
This is my favorite example (not from the book). I probably sang this in the car a dozen times over the holidays... the kids always think it's funny (I can be a bit of a comedian around my kids and their friends in case you didn't suspect).:
Bingle Jells
Snashing through the dough
In a one-horse sopen leigh
O'er the gields we foe
Waffing...more
I got confused reading this book sometimes. I suggest this book to people who have a sense of humor and like reading somewhat backwards. Just a poem book filled with classic She Silverstein poems.
I love theses books because I can understand them easily. It has pictures on every page and I loved reading it. Me and my mom read it together because she bought it for me when i was little and i just now decided to read it after reading "A Light In The Attic" and "Where The Sidewalk Ends".
I think She...more
I love theses books because I can understand them easily. It has pictures on every page and I loved reading it. Me and my mom read it together because she bought it for me when i was little and i just now decided to read it after reading "A Light In The Attic" and "Where The Sidewalk Ends".
I think She...more
I have just found one of the most interesting children's books that I have ever read. Runny Babbit is a story about the adventures of a Rabbit and his friends, Toe Jurtle, Skertie Gunk, Rirty Dat, Dungry Hog, and Snerry Jake.From already reading the names of the characters, it is easy to see that this children's book is not the average book. This children's book written with a poetry form, takes words and turns them into a different language. Instead of Bunny Rabbit, it turns into Runny Babbit....more
Age:
Grades 4-6
Genre:
poetry
Diversity:
children; imagination
Illustrations:
Illustrations look like they were drawn with pencil.
Personal response:
I am a big fan of the author and this is a book he finished writing before his passing but didn't get published until after. It's fun to read and just like his other books of poetry, this one is quite silly. I attempted to read a few poems from this book out loud to my peers during a children's literature presentation once and it was very difficult! I enjoy...more
Grades 4-6
Genre:
poetry
Diversity:
children; imagination
Illustrations:
Illustrations look like they were drawn with pencil.
Personal response:
I am a big fan of the author and this is a book he finished writing before his passing but didn't get published until after. It's fun to read and just like his other books of poetry, this one is quite silly. I attempted to read a few poems from this book out loud to my peers during a children's literature presentation once and it was very difficult! I enjoy...more
I enjoyed the general concept of the book. It told a variety of stories about the animals such as Runny Babbit. Though it was a fun book, it was rather difficult to read. Every sentence switched the beginning letter of a word with the beginning letter of the following word. It's a fun way of making the book a fun book, but it made it a struggle to read it. I love Shel Silverstein, which is why I picked up this book in the first place. I hate to say it, but I didn't enjoy this book. Like I said,...more
This is a new book by Shel Silverstein although he passed away in 1999. This is such a fun book to read and I was amazed how quickly I adapted to the topsy-turvey language it is written in.
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 saying' "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' Run...more
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 saying' "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' Run...more
Runny Babbit lives in the green woods where everyone speaks “Runny Babbit Talk”. Word are backwards and silly, but easy to understand. Instead of silly book, they say “billy sook”. Runny Babbit has friends and family who are also unusual. They make fun of him, laugh with him, and get him into unusual situations.
Using silly poetry, children are brought into the world of Runny Babbit. The world has its own silly language and children will love to decode. With easy to say rhymes, goofy sketch illus...more
Using silly poetry, children are brought into the world of Runny Babbit. The world has its own silly language and children will love to decode. With easy to say rhymes, goofy sketch illus...more
Runny Babbit: a Billy Sook is written by Shel Silverstein and was published after his passing. This poem book is full of spoonerisms, which can be described as a deliberate play on word, in which corresponding consonants, vowels or morphemes are switched. Runny Babbit consists of forty-one poems and beautiful line drawings. While reading the poems within this book one can't help but laugh as they true to unscramble the words.
Classroom Application: Runny Babbit focuses on a key reading skill, cal...more
Classroom Application: Runny Babbit focuses on a key reading skill, cal...more
Read aloud Pre-K to 1 and Self-read grades 1-3
Simple pencil illustrations highlight Silverstein's hilarious tackward bext. Every few words are written with the beginning letters switched, causing tongue-twisting, silly sayings with which children will find delight. It's "a Billy Sook," through and through and allows the reader or listener to see how humorous and fun--yet still meaningful--nonsense words can be. A few of my favorites are "Runny the Ficken Charmer" and "Calley At's Kittle Litten."...more
Simple pencil illustrations highlight Silverstein's hilarious tackward bext. Every few words are written with the beginning letters switched, causing tongue-twisting, silly sayings with which children will find delight. It's "a Billy Sook," through and through and allows the reader or listener to see how humorous and fun--yet still meaningful--nonsense words can be. A few of my favorites are "Runny the Ficken Charmer" and "Calley At's Kittle Litten."...more
We pulled this off the shelf at the book store and started reading it to each other. We laughed ourselves to tears, it was so hilarious! It can be a little hard to read because your mind doesn't like mixing up the words the way they are written but it is so funny. After the first few times it isn't as funny because you've "already heard that joke". What renews our enthusiasm in it is when we get to share it with friends, relatives, and our children. Their laughter renews ours every time. It's a...more
By making chimeras out of words, Shel Silverstein adds a lot of humor and double meanings to a story about the antics of a bunny. I laughed out loud a lot of times.
I once saw the comedic group The Capitol Steps and they used this type of humor in a parody of the Michael Jackson child abuse scandal. I have since hear them on the radio using this style of humor for more recent political events. I thought they were genius (and they have adapted this style well) but I guess the original credit for t...more
I once saw the comedic group The Capitol Steps and they used this type of humor in a parody of the Michael Jackson child abuse scandal. I have since hear them on the radio using this style of humor for more recent political events. I thought they were genius (and they have adapted this style well) but I guess the original credit for t...more
This book was full of comical poetry. The poems were all humorous stories about animals. The characters include Runny Babbit, Millie Woose, Snerry Jake, Toe Jurtle, Wormy Squirm, Goctor Doose, Bumping Jean, and Skertie Gunk. Just as with the names, the first letter of several words are switched in each poem. The poems are difficult but fun to read because you have to look at the letters individually instead of the word as a whole. I would not recommend this book to struggling readers due to the...more
Runny Babbit is about many animals, but they trick you by switching all the first letters of the animals around. It is quite confusing and fun all at the same time. The line drawings in the book create a simple yet hilarious vibe. I loved reading this book because it was fun to try and read really fast. This could be used in a classroom in so many ways. First it could be used to improve a readers fluency, and also teach children how to be clever in their writing. This book is so fun and impressi...more
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Shel Silverstein was the author-artist of many beloved books of prose and poetry. He was a cartoonist, playwright, poet, performer, recording artist, and Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated songwriter.
More about Shel Silverstein...
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“Runny's Nicpic
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.”
—
36 people liked it
More quotes…
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.”
