Product Description

What an event! What a show! It's catchy and quirky. Tuneful and toe-tapping. Exuberant, unexpected, and utterly endearing. It's what happens when you take America's beloved illustrator and children's author and combine her buoyant genius with some of the most talented people on the stage—presenting Philadelphia Chickens!

Created by Sandra Boynton, Philadelphia Chickens is a family musical in a book, bringing together a full-color songbook of 17 1/2 illustrated story-poems with a full-length, fully orchestrated CD of original songs performed by the likes of Patti LuPone, Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, The Bacon Brothers, and Laura Linney, who pleads "Please, Can I Keep It?"—it followed me home. / What exactly it is/ I don't know. Also joining in are Eric Stoltz, Natasha Richardson, Scott Bakula, and two Boyntons, including daughter Caitlin McEwan, who performs a piece that every little listener will relate to—a love song to the chocolate chip cookies that are just out of reach. With the collaboration of composer Michael Ford (known to Boynton fans from Rhinoceros Tap), Philadelphia Chickens is that rarest of kids' musical discs—one whose inimitable lyrics and music make it as sing-along, dance-along, cluck-along for parents as it is for their children.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22433 in Books
• Brand: Workman Publishing
• Published on: 2002-10-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.15 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 64 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780761126362
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Sandra Boynton, long heralded for her menagerie of animal characters (Moo, Baa, La La La; Rhinoceros Tap), puts a fresh cast of singing, dancing critters center stage-from the titular boogying chickens to a tail-wagging "snuggle puppy"-in Philadelphia Chickens, a book-and-CD package billed as an "imaginary musical revue." The first 32 pages contain lyrics and illustrations, the second half of the book includes musical notation and additional lyrics for each song. An all-star cast, including Meryl Streep, Laura Linney, Eric Stoltz and the Bacon Brothers, headlines the musical recording, which features a variety of original show tunes penned by Boynton and composed by Boynton and frequent collaborator Michael Ford.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Lions and tigers ... and dancing pigs? Welcome to the magical menagerie of author Sandra Boynton." -- People Magazine

From the Back Cover

That curious Boynton pizzazz takes to the stage in PHILADELPHIA CHICKENS, a zippy musical production for kids and way beyond. And just wait till you hear who's in the cast...

• The Seldom Herd sings Cows
  
• Meryl Streep sings Nobody Understands Me
  
• The Bacon Brothers sing Philadelphia Chickens
  
• Keith Boynton sings Be Like a Duck
  
• Laura Linney sings Please, Can I Keep It?
  
• Eric Stoltz sings Snuggle Puppy
  
• Patti LuPone sings I Like to Fuss
  
• The Bacon Brothers sing Snoozers
  
• Caitlin McEwan sings Faraway Cookies
  
• John Stey sings Fifteen Animals
  
• The Heath Sisters sing Belly Button (round)
  
• Kevin Kline sings Busybusybusy
  
• Michael Ford sings Those Dinosaur Bones
  
• Darcy Boynton chants Dinosaur, Dinosaur
  
• Beth Andrien sings Jump Rope Jive
  
• Scott Bakula sings Pig Island
  
• Adam Bryant sings Pajama Time
  
• Natasha Richardson sings Silly Lullaby
• Aaaardvarks (Mark Linn-Baker, Joe Grifasi, Michael Gross & Devin McEwan) sing The Intermission Song

With these performers, words and pictures by Sandra Boynton, and music by the incomparable Rhinoceros Tap team of Boynton & Ford, you have to hear it to believe it. And even then, it may take a while.

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Customer Reviews

Very cute!
I think our children and grandchildren will regard Sandra Boynton as we and our parents regard Dr. Seuss. As usual, her stories are adorable. I saw highlights on the today show this morning and had to go buy it today. My daughter's a little young for it (7 months) but her 2 year old friends loved the music. It's a children's CD I like and do not find annoying (such as those by that purple creature).

The book is well done. There is a page for each of the songs with an illustration. There is also sheet music and lyrics for each song in the back of the book.

I'm sure we'll cherish this one for years to come!

Cheers for the Chickens!!
Before I could listen to the rest of the CD that comes with the song book, imaginatively illustrated and presented, a friend of mine practically snatched out of my hands to hear what I'd been raving about. My introduction to "The Philadelphia Chickens" was on the TODAY SHOW (pre-Christmas 2002). I never heard a word about it after the interview so I surmised that the "Chickens" was tossed on a stack with the myriad of books released for the big holiday rush. Being a musician and a collector of Broadway musical scores, I found this to be a "kiddie" musical. The lyrics are clever and sung with integrity. The sound is big and expansive. All the songs are slightly nutty, but have very plausible messages, like the girl who is too short to reach the chocolate chip cookies, and the ardvaark who think's he should be in the "dancing cow line". So far I've bought three copies. And parents! This won't drive you crazy either. In fact, I bet after the tree comes down and the kids return to school, dad will have that CD in his car for a nice chuckle on the way to work. The piano music and lyrics are part of the boook, "Philadelphia Chickens", with fanciful stories and illustrations. It's intelligent, too!! It will make such a welcome, refreshing gift or just an enduring book and CD designed to bring smiles to all. (Or, except as the author says on the cover, "to everyone except those who are 43!")
And, speaking from a childhood experience, if your little one is home sick in bed, these songs and stories will make a loving get-well tonic.

A Marvelous Manic Romp.....
It's a dazzling, illustrated book. It's a rollicking musical. It's Sandra Boynton at her very best as she and collaborator, Michael Ford, bring their "imaginary musical revue," Philadelphia Chickens, to life on your stage. Open the book as the curtain goes up, and follow along as you listen to an all-star cast on the accompanying CD. Or meet at the piano to sing and play along, using the words and music in part two of the book. Ms Boynton's clever lyrics are rich in humor and wit, and complemented by her endearing bold, bright and busy, signature animal illustrations. Philadephia Chickens is an exuberant, fun-filled, manic romp that engages and captivates, and "youngsters" from 3 to 93 will revel in all the fun.