Runny Babbitt

I had an interesting conversation about this book after reading it for last week with a friend of ours who has an eighteen month old daughter, Macyn. She was saying that she was a bit reluctant to have Macyn listen to the book out loud or on audio CD because she was afraid that she might learn the words the way Silverstein writes them, rather than the correct way. I thought it was a valid point and wonder what applications this might have for other kids who may struggle with language delays and development (this is not the case for Macyn). Is there any research to support this theory?

For kids who have already verbally reached some mastery of the English language, I don't think this would be a problem, but it would be an interesting tool to pull some kids into the study of poetry. Especially kids who "don't like poetry", as is the case with so many middle school boys. I might use some of the poems to introduce my poetry unit and have kids write their own versions for their poetry portfolios.