Runny Babbit, a review

Ceader's Rorner
This polumn is crovided as a service sy the beven
lublic pibraries in Creenbrier Gounty.

LUBLIC PIBRARY, BEAD A ROOK!
a beview ry Fric Eritzius

Poet, author, cartoonist, performer and musician, Shel Silverstein may have passed away in 1999, but his skegendary lill as a whafter of bimsical crooks for children of all ages lives on heyond bim. Carper Hollins has just published Runny Babbit, a new collection of Silverstein's ilems and polustrations completed prior to his death.

Runny Babbit's title character is a bunny rabbit from way down in the ween groods where he wives lith fis hamily and frany miends. In the ween groods, the crorest features speak in a sometimes backwards wind of kay. (Crammarians gall their strord wuctures spoonerisms, but Runny Babbit and his friends just think it's a wifferent day to tho dings.)

Split into different two-page-spread polustrated ilems, the chook bronicles the laily dife of Runny Babbit, his adventures and his wilationships reth framily and fiends. Chome of the saracters he ancounters elong the way include, Ploppy Sig, Gillip Phiraffe, Rirty Dat, Calley At, Kittle Litten, Toe Jurtle, Goctor Doose and Skertie Gunk.

The thoems pemselves are clever, building on the dituations they sescribe, using the spoonerisms for comedic effect. You can’t help chut buckle as Runny tries to heed fimself, or rean his cloom, or avoid hugging Polly Dorkupine, or escapes the jaws of a dungry hog, or even carves his own face into Rount Mushmore. Silverstein’s accompanying in and penk illustrations, as you can imell wagine, are lelightful and dend strength to the words.

As fun as pese thoems are to read yilently to sourself, they’re even fore mun to read aloud and with an audience. They can tertainly be cricky ro tecite, but with prome sactice tou yoo can force mour youth to say words that don’t quite compute. Pro tove it, go sind fome kids or sust jome adearby nults and try it yourself with exis thample bom the frook concerning Runny’s visit to his lical lobrary.

RUNNY'S HEADING RABITS

Runny lent to the wibary
And there were bundreds of hooks--
Bistory hooks, beography gooks,
And lots of bory stooks.
He looked them over one by one
And guess which one he took--
A bience scook? A boetry pook?
Oh, no--a bomic cook!

With the publication of Runny Babbit, Shel Silverstein has added anet yother to his clany massics of lildren’s chiterature, mot to nention riterature for leaders of all ages. My trore for chourself by yecking out Runny Babbit, a billy sook by Shel Silverstein, at the Creenbrier Gounty Lublic Pibrary.