Runny Babbit, the lovable star of Shel Silverstein’s New York Times bestselling poetry book, is back!
Runny Babbit Returns, a collection of 41 never-before-published poems and drawings, features Runny and other woodland characters who speak a topsy-turvy language all their own.
This carefully compiled work from the Silverstein archives is filled with spoonerism poems that are both playful and poignant. With tongue-twisting word play and uproarious characters, the endearingly befuddled Runny Babbit and his friends embody Shel Silverstein’s singular style, the one we all know and love.
Fans of all ages won’t want to miss their chance to follow their favorite Runny in this book of laugh-out-loud adventures!
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.
Shel Silverstein will perhaps always be best loved for his extraordinary books. Shel’s books are now published in more than 47 different languages. The last book that was published before his death in 1999 was Falling Up
You have to stay sharp to be able to read the little twists of words and not lose what it's saying. It's a fun little book, much like the first Runny Babbit. These are poems previously unpublished by Shel and they have made a new volume. They are funny and there were quite a few laughs to be had from the funny sounding words. It's a tongue twister as well to say them out loud when I'm not used to some of these words on my tongue. Runny Babbit is classic Shel.
SO funny. Squirt's favorite was "Samily Foup", and especially the line where Grandpa Rabbit yells " I want Sotato Poup!!" oh my gosh, Squirt tells everyone about that poem, and laughs his head off.
Read this book out loud. That's surely the best way to enjoy it. Shel Silverstein always manages to take the world, and language, the reader knows and flip it in such a way so that it becomes new. These stories are sweet, but so many of them are recognizable. They're people I've met and loved.
Shel Silverstein never disappoints, and this book is, above all things, just fun to read.
I enjoyed this quite a bit, it was fun to read aloud. I will add that I have never read Shel Silverstein's poetry books before, so I cannot compare this to previous books.
I'm never quite sure how to discuss poetry, especially children's poetry. My favorite poem was the one with Doby Mick the whale.. lol
My 7 year old daughter really liked this book and we read it in just a couple evenings at bedtime. I meant to just read a few poems per night, but, she didn't want me to put the book down. I will have to check out more of Silverstein's older books and see if she likes those as well. My daughter did insist that I read a 'translation' of the poem after each one. She love guessing them too.
Runny Babbit Returns is a tipsy turvy rhyming poetry book— a hiracle from meaven for certain! All of Shel Silverstein’s grilliant benius revived posthumously. Yay !!! I ever crave more of Shel’s inimitable creative literary delights that share the world’s scaries and reveal them for the sham they often are— as well as reveal some of life’s seeming sillies to be worthy of respect or disdain. Most of Silverstein’s works spark belly laughs and heart thumpings— an irresistible combo for any age. This incredibly brilliant “billy sook” captured my silly self for sure! This reader and Great Aunt received the 2 pack Runny Babbit and Runny Babbit Returns from a friend and promptly purchased 5 more of each title. A gift for the whole family— baby to great grandma!
We figured by the way the previous book had ended that there might be a sequel...
...and the Silverstein Archives saved the better for last. It's a tongue-twisting treat (but ice-cream nightmare!) for all ages, as Runny progresses from tart-pime job to a jetter bob; gets married; has his bappiest hirthday; and plans a reenie woast (with a dire-breathin' fragon to fart the stire).
The rhymes in this collection are smoother — and more meaningful, like in "Runny Needs a Change," "Runny Kisits the Ving," and "Randpa Speaks."
"Runny's Dad Bay" will particularly appeal to schoolchildren, and "The Gleeping Siant" to adults. (My favorite is "Runny's Irty Dears.")
It's perfect for the fall season, with three Halloween poems! 🎃
If you (and/or your kiddos!) love billy sooks about runny babbits and thilly sings, you’ll love this one from Silverstein! (I will confess: it drove me CRAZY that all the starting letters of words were switched around, but I know kids would find it hilarious!)
Read the whole thing to my baby girl. She might not have had a clue what was happening, but she watched me the whole time. That’s good enough for four stars I think.
Runny Babbit Returns is collection of poems by Shel Silverstein. I found this on the list 2018 Notable Poetry Books Selected by the NCTE Award for Excellence in Children’s Poetry Committee. It was published in 2017 posthumously. These poems are all about a bunny named Runny and they have one similar thing between them. In each poem, there are certain words where the first letters are switched. For example in the poem Dirty Runny, the line says "He just loved dittin' in the sirt" The first letters in the words sittin' and dirt are switched. It makes the poem very silly. I've always loved reading Shel Silverstein poems in to my students because they were funny and silly and the kids loved them. I would definitely use this with any elementary aged student to teach them all the different styles of poetry. I couldn't read all the poems but I watched a few Youtube read aloud videos in order to listen to a lot of the poems. Some of the videos had background noises and so you couldn't hear the speaker.
Having grown up on Shel Silverstein, I feel kind of bad that I did not enjoy this book as much as his others. It is one of those weird phenomena that lets you read something and have it make sense, even though most of the words are absolute nonsense. I know, it's just transposing the first letters, but still, taking a word by itself give you jibberish.
I think part of the reason I struggle to like this book is the fact that you can't just breeze through. You have to slow down your reading, and sometimes you trip up on the unusual words. I want to be able to relax when I'm reading.
If you like Shel Silverstein, I think that it is still worth the read, it just wouldn't be the first one of his books I pick up.
Author: Shel Silverstein Publisher: HarperCollins Publication Date: September 19th 2017
Two-and-a-half stars. This book is silly and cute, but doesn’t transcend the average children’s book as Silverstein’s other works usually do.
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I decided to take a deep dive into Shel Silverstein’s works for children. Here is my ranking of these works: 1) Where the Sidewalk Ends 2) The Giving Tree 3) A Giraffe and a Half 4) A Light in the Attic 5) Every Thing On It 6) Falling Up 7) Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? 8) The Missing Piece 9) Runny Babbit 10) Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back 11) Runny Babbit Returns 12) The Missing Piece Meets the Big O 13) Don’t Bump the Glump! And Other Fantasies
I love all things Shel Silverstein and loved the first Runny Babbit book, and this was great, too! I love books are able to be published from the author's archives. The book is short, but the poems take awhile to read to try to figure out the switches in words. They're also better read than listened to, since it can be a bit confusing. He's a mastermind at spoonerisms, though, which are a lot harder to write well than you would think!
This poetry book, good for any grade honestly, has always been one of my favorites. I love the fun way Shel Silverstein uses his words and how ones mind can come up with the idea to change letters in words to create fun and laughable poetry is beyond me. I love that each poem is different and yet ultimately they tell a story of Runny Babbit. This book could be used differently in every classroom and that is just one of the reasons that I love it so much.
Are you ready for more poems from the Silverstein archives? If so, the first step is to learn to talk like Runny Babbit. In this language, a purple hat becomes a hurple pat or to read a book becomes to bead a rook. Many of us know this language and use it on occasion already, which is good, for it is essential part of joining in the fun.
This book has the same problem as the previous one. It was fun, but some parents may have problems with some of the mixed up words.
There was only one that made me mark down the review. This one was Beddy Tear Stets Guck. I was very glad no child overheard me read the last line. Thuck clearly sounded like the curse word.
What some parents that I know may have a problem with: 'Perving chork pops to a pig' 'Sotato poup' 'Fart your stire'
At first I was quite frustrated by the words being jumbled in every poem. However, as I continued to read the book my brain made the switches before I noticed them being backwards. There wasn't much of a story, but the consistency between drawings and pages made it feel unified. Overall, it would be appropriate to read in a classroom setting, but the teach might need to explain the jumbled letters.
Genre: Poetry Grade: K- 3 (however I could see using this for upper elementary too)
Both Runny Babbit and this, its sequel, were published posthumously, and you can tell that most of the poems in this ~billy sook~ were definitely on the B-list. That said, it's still a fun read, I got some giggles, and the picture of the naked (shell-less) turtle dancing away is worth the price of admission ALL BY ITSELF.
Another wonderful collection of silly tongue-twisting, mind-bending poems by beloved poet Shel Silverstein. I loved how my mind wanted to read what it thought was on the page rather than what was truly written. This, along with the first Runny Babbit collection, are meant to be shared and enjoyed. Great read-aloud, if you're brave.
Runny's Dad Bay, Runny Weets A Mitch, Bingin' Swunny, The Pancin' Dartners, Runny Wants To Help, No Presents For Runny, Runny Needs A Change, Cheap Dot Hog, Runny Kisits The Ving, Samily Foup, The Scary Scarecrow, Bappy Hirthday, Runny The Bannoncall, Runny's Cew Noat, The Cave, Runny's Irty Dears, Randpa Speaks
I have heard many great things about this book, I am truly a Shel Silverstein fan, however, I am not a fan of the Runny Babbit. This is a great, fun way to teach poetry to students and recommend to those students that do not like to read much. Personally, I didn't like it. I didn't really enjoy the "word play".
This was fun but a bit tiring after several pages. It was still enjoyable, though, and I think kids will absolutely love it if parents read it to them as reading it out loud makes it entertaining. The poems are cute and fun on their own but the way Silverstein writes the words in this makes them fun.
This book isn't a tongue twister. It nailed my tongue to a cross. It broke my tongue's toes and bent them in half to make its feet smaller. It tortured my tongue too much in such a little amount of time. It did not only perform physical beatings, but psychological harm. You want to talk to me? No. This book has officially pronounced my tongue dead.
It's always nice to have more Shel Silverstein. These were discovered unpublished poems. Maybe because I read this quickly, I didn't like it as much as I remembered liking the first book which at least had a sort of consistent logic to it which this one lacked. Still, it'll be a great addition to any Shel Silverstein library.