Barebum Billy is an Australian children's book written by Nicholas Snelling and illustrated by Glen Le Lievre, published in 2021 after being successfully backed by Kickstarter.
The story is about a young boy named Billy Bottom who enjoys running around naked.
Tropes:
- Alliterative Title: Both words in the title begin with B.
- Alliterative Name: The titular character, whether addressed by his actual name of Billy Bottom or his nickname Barebum Billy, has a name that's an alliteration with the letter B.
- Babies Ever After: The book ends with Billy Bottom and his wife Millie having a baby boy, who takes after his father in being a passionate streaker.
- Bland-Name Product: Zig-zagged. A viral video of Billy when he was a kid is shown on a website named "YouNude" instead of "YouTube", but other social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok and the publication Time Magazine are mentioned by their actual names.
- Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: At church, a father tries to cover his daughter's eyes when Billy urinates in the holy water from atop the crucifix.
- The "Fun" in "Funeral": A funeral is listed as one of the inappropriate places Billy chose to strut around in his birthday suit.
- Godiva Hair: Most of the pages depicting Millie naked rely on covering her breasts with her long hair.
- Happily Married: In adulthood, Billy meets and falls in love with a woman named Millie, who becomes his wife and turns out to be supportive of his nudist lifestyle, even joining him in going nude.
- Naked People Are Funny: The whole premise of the book is that it's about a boy who enjoys running around completely starkers.
- Protagonist Title: Billy Bottom is the main character of the book and the titular Barebum Billy.
- Scenery Censor: Billy's crotch is obscured from view by conveniently located objects when viewed from the front. A page where he's running around sprinkler systems has his privates obscured by jets of water, his antics at the grocery store has the hand of his sentient toy robot cover up his genitals on security camera footage and a "Censored" label with a backwards R hastily held over Billy's groin by the robot when the boy is caught by the store manager gorging on candy and the robot's head covers Billy's pubic area when he starts stripping in church. At the end of the book, the pelvic regions of Billy and his wife Millie are obscured by microphones held by interviewing news reporters and text on the cover of Time Magazine covering their relationship, with Millie's breasts covered up by a book she's reading on one page and her long hair elsewhere.
- Shared Family Quirks: Billy's baby son at the end of the book shares his father's love of running around naked.
- The End... Or Is It?: These five exact words constitute the book's final statement, hinting at a sequel focusing on the nudie antics of Billy's son.
- Toilet Humour: Billy's antics at church include standing on top of the crucifix to urinate in the holy water.
