Product Description

This silly rhyme book will throw kids into fits of laughter as they start to learn their ABCs. Author: Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault Illustrator: Lois Ehlert Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1733 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Amazon.com
The 26 characters in this rhythmic, rhyming baby book are a lowercase alphabet with attitude. "A told b, and b told c, 'I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree'"--which probably seemed like a good idea until the other 23 members of the gang decided to follow suit. Lois Ehlert's chunky block illustrations show the luxuriant green palm standing straight and tall on the first page, but it begins to groan and bend under its alphabetical burden. First the coconuts fall off, then ("Chicka chicka... BOOM! BOOM!") all the letters also end up in a big heap underneath. A very simple board-book version stops there, but this original text goes on to introduce the helping hands of the 26 uppercase "mamas and papas and uncles and aunts." (Baby to preschool) --Richard Farr

From Publishers Weekly
In this bright and lively rhyme, the letters of the alphabet race each other to the top of the coconut tree. When X, Y and Z finally scramble up the trunk, however, the weight is too much, and down they all tumble in a colorful chaotic heap: "Chicka Chicka . . . BOOM! BOOM!" All the family members race to help, as one by one the letters recover in amusingly battered fashion. Poor stubbed toe E has a swollen appendage, while F sports a jaunty Band-Aid and P is indeed black-eyed. As the tropic sun goes down and a radiant full moon appears, indomitable A leaps out of bed, double-daring his colleagues to another treetop race. This nonsense verse delights with its deceptively simple narrative and with the repetition of such catchy phrases as "skit skat skoodle doot." Ehlert's bold color scheme, complete with hot pink and orange borders, matches the crazy mood perfectly. Children will revel in seeing the familiar alphabet transported into this madcap adventure. Ages 2-6.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Simon & Schuster
A told B, and B told C, I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree. In this lively alphabet rhyme, all the letters of the alphabet race each other up the cocunut tree. Will there be enough room? Oh, no - Chicka Chicka Boom! Boom! The well-known authors of Barn Dance and Knots on a Counting Rope have created a rhythmic alphabet chant that rolls along on waves of fun. Lois Ehlert's rainbow of bright, bold, cheerful colors makes the merry parade of letters unforgettable. END

Customer Reviews

EXCELLENT!
This book is magnificent! It is one of my favorite children's books. I made a recording of me reading the book and the children in the class always walks around singing the the book as a song. It is a book they will always remember. It is at the top of my list of recommended reading!

All our family loves this book
This book was another accidental find in our library, a present from our library-sale loving friend. I love reading this story to my daughter (22 months at the time of this review), and I enjoy its rhythm and its illustrations. The story is a little long for a toddler, Anna usually loses interests after the letters fall off the tree, but she enjoys saying out of the blue, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! ... Enough room? when she is playing with something else. Those little wheels in her head are obviosly turning :)

Little boys love Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
This is a regular addition to our bedtime reading collection for our two sons (ages 5 and 4). The book is colorful, fast and fun to read.

Both of my kids already know their ABCs but that doesn't prevent them from enjoying this book and giggling like mad as they read these lines:

"Skit skat skoodle doot. Flip flop flee..."

"mamas and papas and uncles and aunts..."