''Chicka Chicka Boom Boom'' is a bestselling American

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

written by

Bill Martin, Jr. William Ivan Martin Jr. (March 20, 1916 – August 11, 2004) was an American educator, publishing executive, and author of more than 300 children's books including ''The Sounds of Mystery,'' ''Chicka Chicka Boom Boom'' (co-authored with John Arc ...

and John Archambault, illustrated by

Lois Ehlert Lois Jane Ehlert (November 9, 1934 – May 25, 2021) was an American author and illustrator of children's books, most having to do with nature. Ehlert won the Caldecott Honor for ''Color Zoo'' in 1990. Some of her other popular works included '' ...

, and published in hardcover by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...

in 1989. The book features

anthropomorphized Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alpha ...

and charted on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for children's books in 2000.

Plot

The lowercase alphabet tries climbing up a

coconut tree The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

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 An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, or o ...

, including D having a skinned-knee, E having a

stubbed toe Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plan ...

, F being patched up, G being all out of breath, H and I being tangled up, J and K about to cry, L being

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ...

ted like a tie, M being

loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...

ed, N being stooped, O being twisted "alley-oop," P having a

black eye A periorbital hematoma, commonly called a black eye or a shiner (associated with boxing or stick sports such as hockey), is bruising around the eye commonly due to an injury to the face rather than to the eye. The name refers to the dark-colo ...

, and T having a loose tooth. However, the rest of the letters have no injuries. The sun goes down afterwards. Later at night, 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 audio book version is also available, narrated by

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

. A CD-ROM game was released in 1995 by

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

and

Interactive. A 2004 sequel entitled ''

Chicka, Chicka, 1, 2, 3 ''Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3'' is the title of a children's picture book written by Bill Martin, Jr. and Michael Sampson, and illustrated by Lois Ehlert in 2004 by Simon & Schuster. The book features anthropomorphized numbers. Plot The number 0 t ...

'' by Martin and

Michael Sampson Dr. Michael Sampson is a Fulbright Scholar and an American children's writer best known for easy-to-read books that feature rhythmic and repetitive language. Sampson's first children's book, ''The Football That Won'', was written solo in 1992 a ...

was inspired by it. 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.

Weston Woods Studios Weston Woods Studios (or simply Weston Woods) is a production company that makes audio and short films based on well-known books for children. It was founded in 1953 by Morton Schindel in Weston, Connecticut, and named after the wooded area near ...

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 Crystal Taliefero-Pratt (née Taliefero) is an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Taliefero grew up with a musical family, performing rhythm and blues with her brother in the Chicago metropolitan area. During her college years she was ...

Album

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 The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

and in 1993, won a

Parents' Choice Award The Parents' Choice Award was an award presented by the non-profit Parents' Choice Foundation to recognize "the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels." It was considered a "prest ...

. Its main track was the title song, ''Chicka Chicka Boom Boom'', which was the book name.

Tracks

References

{{Reflist, 2 1989 children's books American picture books Alphabet books Children's books adapted into films