I am a big fan of word play and unintentional word humor--wacky typos, etc.--so it was fun to find this Spooneristic rift, as corny as it may be, in a recent Publishers Weekly newsletter. It came out around the time the Caldecott Medal was announced.:

Maldecott Kettle and Other Musings
by Jon Agee

Poor Larry. He's got a bad case of Spoonerisms—you know, the habit of flip-flopping the initial sounds of words. For example, the other day, at ALA midwinter in San Antonio, he approaches Kevin Henkes.

"Kevin!" he says. "Congrats on the MALDECOTT KETTLE! Here, let me give you a HAIR BUG!"

Then he sees David Macaulay. "Hey, David!" he says, "You're one FART SMELLER! I've BURNED A LUNCH from your books!"

An elegant, older woman walks by, looking for a place to sit down. "Look!" says Larry, "It's CLEVERLY BEERY! I gotta SEW HER TO A SHEET!"

But he trips and falls over a table of books.

"OW!" he says, "I HANGED MY BED and hit my BUNNY PHONE!"

That's when he spots Thacher Hurd's cousin Terry. "Hey, it's HAIRY..." And that's when I headed for the exit.

So yes, Larry has a problem. I'm just glad it's not contagious. Or is it? MOLEY HOSES! I hope not.

--Agee, a recovering palindromist, has a new book this spring from Hyperion/di Capua, called Smart Feller Fart Smeller and Other Spoonerisms.