Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

A word of warning. If you haven't a rhythmic bone in your body, you'd best not be reading "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" anytime soon. This book is arguably the best known alphabet book on the market today. Telling a tale of alphabetic foolhardiness, a troop of lower case letters (all of them, in fact) go bounding up the nearby coconut tree for a variety of reasons. When the tree can no longer support their weight the little letters find themselves splayed out on the ground. Fortunately the big letters come along to comfort the little ones, though it's obvious by the end that not all have learned their lesson.
Verses of the letters' exploits are intermixed with chants like so;
"Chicka chick boom boom!
Will there be enough room?
Here comes H
Up the coconut tree"
The text has a nice rhythmic quality to it. A kind of onomatopoetic elegance. And the illustrations, while not particularly stunning, fulfill their purpose excellently. It's a good read-aloud story for kids learning their alphabet, and would fit into any storytime excellently. A fun feisty book.

The book has catchy sounds with a great rhythmic pattern that is just fun for parents and kids! And, when it gets stuck in your mind after hours of reciting it, it is much better than "It's a small world after all!" which drives everyone crazy!
Ok, so, what's my story???
Our severely handicapped daughter, Rebecca, suffered through hours of arduous therapies, working and struggling to help herself. She started this at only 2 months old and worked very hard at every single session to this day - now 6 years old.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom was one of the books that we read and read and read and read to her during these never ending ordeals to keep her mind sane with her pain and struggles. She still laughs when we recite the words!
By the way, Rebecca is doing very well, although she remains severely handicapped. Her very hard work and efforts have brought her to a level no one ever thought possible (you see, she was dead for 35 minutes at birth). She struggles to walk, speak and feed herself everyday. ....
And, when you read this book, think about Rebecca and all her friends and say a little prayer for all of them! Thanks!

My daycare kids by far favorite. There is a scream of glee when they see it. I give it as a Christmas present to all my daycare kids. Daycare parents tell me the kids read it to them. It's a fun read.
If you want to board book it's called Chicka Chicka ABC -- by Jr, Bill Martin. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is paper back. : )

Ok, this going to sound strange but this book has upset my child terribly, we think it has to do with all the injuries the letters receive. She really has a problem with it and 4 weeks later she still talks about, she was read it and the song in her school. We think because she has apraxia and some OT/sensory/gravity issues this is why. Another OT therapist said she got the same reaction after reading it.

Now I am not a particularly overprotective parent or one who has some sort of social agenda. It's just when your child is visibly upset and remains so to the point of not wanting to go back to school something is there. She says nothing bad happened at the same time like a kid falling down or related bad thing. She says the book makes her really sad and that she would not be sad if she was older. She is very skittish when the abominable snowman from Rudolph comes on.

So for most of you it looks like no problem but if you have a child "with an issue" just be careful.

I enjoyed this book so much, I am purchasing the board book version of it. It is one of the few books I have read to my daughter and day care children that totally drew them in from the second line. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a daring yet impish race of the small alphabet letters up to the top of a coconut tree with vivid artwork on every page. When the tree is weighed down with all the letters, it bends and the child-like letters fall down to be picked up by the large letters described as the mamas and the papas and the uncles and the aunts. Theya re all gathered up and put to bed when all the sudden out comes little a again..and the fun starts again. It is so fun to read for the adults too. What a great way to show the relationship betwen large and small alphabet letters! We even started a game with me saying, "Chicka chicka?" and them cheering back, "BOOM BOOM!"
The author captures the tone of children at play, keeps a rhythm that is easy to follow, and provides a warm sunny way for children to remember the alphabet. It is well worth the money and I will look for more offerings from the author in the future. I also used it as a tool for homeschooling my daughter who has just turned 4. After the purchase and use of this book, she can easily recognize all letters large and small which makes it so much easier when you work on phonics and early reading. The book made it FUN and that is what I liked the most.
Get this book!!! It's educational, affordable, and fun!

This book is so much fun to read, and the bright pictures are very attractive to kids. As a bonus, your child learns their ABCs! Although keep in mind that they won't learn the sounds the letters make, like in other alphabet books (such as Dr. Seuss's ABC), which is more helpful for learning to read. Still, you can't really say a bad word about this book. It's great fun!

My book arrived in a large box instead of a padded envelope. The bottom of the box was too small for the book and the edges were rippled and cannot be smoothed out. I was very disappointed with my purchase since it is a brand new book!

This book sent our 18 month old into a crying fit because it ends sadly. After all the letters try to climb the tree, they all fall out and the book ends. Bummer. When you're 18 months, falling isn't fun - it hurts. We had to get rid of the book.

This book is reminiscent of the earlier Dr. Seuss ABC book. Both use rhythm, story line, and nonsense words to teach alphabet letters. But Dr. Seuss has an imaginative vignette for each letter and the rhymes are much better. This is one of those books which I expected to like but didn't. As a result, I find it hard to be enthusiastic when reading it to my child.

As I am the designated book shopper of the family, my sister mentioned to me when my nephew was about 6 months old that he was really getting into books with a rhythm to them, and that she was interested in an ABC book for him. I found this book and sent it off to them, and it was very popular with both my nephew and his siblings. I've since bought it as a kids gift for lots of other kids! The bouncy beat of the story and the personification of the letters as they dance, climb trees etc. makes the story fun and offers painless learning.