Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

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]

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Cover showing the coconut tree
AuthorBill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
IllustratorLois Ehlert
Cover artistLois Ehlert
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Series
SubjectThe alphabet
GenreChildren's picture book
PublisherSimon & Schuster
Publication date
September 14, 1989
Pages36
ISBN1-55924-577-8
OCLC19262991
Preceded byN/A 
Followed byChicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 

Plot

The lowercase alphabet tries climbing up a coconut tree in order, until 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 letters receive injuries, including "d" having a skinned-knee, "e" having a stubbed toe, "f" being patched up, "g" being all out of breath, "h" and "i" being tangled up, "j" and "k" about to cry, "l" being knotted like a tie, "m" being looped, "n" being stooped, "o" being twisted "alley-oop," "p" having a black eye, and "t" having a loose tooth. However, the rest of the letters have no injuries. The sun goes down afterward. Later at night, when there is a full moon, the letter "a" starts to get out of bed and climbs up the tree again, daring all the other letters to catch him.

Impact

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 toddlers entitled Chicka, Chicka, ABC was published in 1990, which contains the first half of the original story, and ends up with all 26 letters 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
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Other Coconutty Songs
Cover showing coconut tree
Studio album by
John Archambault and David Plummer
Released2000
Recorded1991-1992
GenreChildren's music
LabelYoungheart Records
ProducerDavid 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. The album 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
No.TitleLength
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
  1. "JohnArchambault.com <Books Written with Bill Martin, Jr.>". Archived from the original on 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2011-02-22. John Archambault: Books
  2. "Best Sellers : December 17, 2000". The New York Times. December 17, 2000. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  3. Martin, Bill (2004). Chicka chicka 1, 2, 3 (First ed.). New York, New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-689-85881-7.
  4. 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.
  5. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (2002), retrieved 2022-08-11
  6. "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.
  7. "Notable children's recording". Emergency Librarian. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
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