Book excerpt: The Bab Ballads is an incredible collection of light verses by W. S. Gilbert, illustrated with his own comic drawings. This amusing book gets its title from Gilbert's childhood name, "Bab," meaning a baby. In composing these verses, Gilbert formed his "topsy-turvy" style in which the humor is obtained by setting up a hilarious assumption and working out its logical results, however ridiculous. The Ballads also demonstrate Gilbert's cynical and satirical approach to humor. These ballads became famous on their own and were a basis for plot elements, characters, and songs that Gilbert recycled in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. People used to read them aloud at private parties, public feasts, and even in the House of Lords. Gilbert did not start calling the collection The Bab Ballads until the first collection was published in 1869. After that, his new verses in his Fun collection were captioned "The Bab Ballads."