Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
 Cover showing the coconut tree | |
| Author | Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Lois Ehlert |
| Cover artist | Lois Ehlert |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Series |
| Subject | The alphabet |
| Genre | Children's picture book |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | September 14, 1989 |
| Pages | 36 |
| ISBN | 1-55924-577-8 |
| OCLC | 19262991 |
| Preceded by | N/A |
| Followed by | Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 |
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a bestselling American children's picture book written by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert,[1] and published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in 1989. The book features anthropomorphized letters and charted on The New York Times Best Seller list for children's books in 2000.[2]
Plot[edit]
The lowercase alphabet climbs up a coconut tree in order, but their weight causes the tree to lean over, and everyone falls out of the tree. After that, the uppercase alphabet (the older relatives of the lowercase alphabet) comes to rescue them. Again alphabetically, while being rescued, most of the alphabet receive certain injuries. Later that night, the letter "a" gets up and climbs back up the coconut tree, proposing a double dare on the rest of the alphabet to catch him. The 20th-Century Children's book Treasury from Random House has this story, starting on page 15 and finishing on page 22. It is American. The British book is the Hutchinson Treasury of Stories to Read Aloud, using a similar background. You can see that the American book has the snowy day, but the British does not.
Impact[edit]
An audiobook version is also available, narrated by Ray Charles.
A CD-ROM game was released in 1995 by Davidson and Simon & Schuster Interactive.
A 2004 sequel entitled Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 by Martin and Michael Sampson was inspired by it.[3] Also, a board book for babies and toddlers entitled Chicka, Chicka, ABC was published in 1990, which contains the first half of the original story, and ends up with the whole alphabet causing themselves to fall out of the coconut tree.[4]
Weston Woods Studios made its own animated musical short film adaptation, which was inspired by the original book in 1999, with music composed and performed by Crystal Taliefero.[5]
Album[edit]
| Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Other Coconutty Songs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | 2000 |
| Recorded | 1991–1992 |
| Genre | Children's music |
| Label | Youngheart Records |
| Producer | David Plummer & John Archambault |
In 1992, Archambault released an album composed of several songs based on the storybook, entitled Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Other Coconutty Songs, along with musician David Plummer. It was named a 1992 "Notable Children's Recording American Library Association and in 1993, won a Parents' Choice Award.[6][7] Its main track was the title song, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, which was the book name.
Track list[edit]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" | 2:25 |
| 2. | "ABC Song" | 0:54 |
| 3. | "Braggin' Dragon" | 2:20 |
| 4. | "Helicopter Man" | 2:23 |
| 5. | "Merry-Go-Round" | 2:36 |
| 6. | "Didgereedoo" | 3:08 |
| 7. | "Counting Sheep" | 2:25 |
| 8. | "B-A-Bay" | 1:51 |
| 9. | "5 Little Monkeys" | 0:19 |
| 10. | "Here Comes Another One" | 3:00 |
| 11. | "Saturday Night At The Fair" | 2:01 |
| 12. | "Jump Rope Rhymes" | 2:00 |
| 13. | "Chicka Chicka Funk" | 3:36 |
References[edit]
- ^ "JohnArchambault.com <Books Written with Bill Martin, Jr.>". Archived from the original on 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2011-02-22. John Archambault: Books
- ^ "Best Sellers : December 17, 2000". The New York Times. December 17, 2000. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
- ^ Martin, Bill (2004). Chicka chicka 1, 2, 3 (First ed.). New York, New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-689-85881-7.
- ^ Martin, Bill (1993). Chicka chicka a b c (First Little Simon board book ed.). New York, New York: Little Simon. ISBN 0-671-87893-X.
- ^ Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (2002), retrieved 2022-08-11
- ^ "For Halloween, learning about skeletons, and some tips on the art of the pumpkin". The Sun – Baltimore, Md. Oct 14, 1994. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
- ^ "Notable children's recording". Emergency Librarian. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.