Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) Written by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault. Illustrated by Lois Ehlert

    This book is bound to keep any reader’s attention and teach them the alphabet swiftly. With lots of repetition and a rhythm that harkens that of a skipping rope song, this book will keep children engaged while helping them learn the alphabet. For one, the writing has great predictability allowing for the child to participate when being read to by joining in on the repeated phrase “Chicka chicka boom boom” or by guessing what will happen to the tree and in turn all the letters. It also goes through the alphabet in order twice in the story, once when they climb up the tree and once when each letter gets assessed after the fall. While this story is both educational and entertaining, it can also be viewed as relatable by many children since its tone and simple plot moments are very similar to common playground accidents. While many alphabet books provide a list like experience simply stating a letter and objects that begin with that letter, this book provides a fun story that offers easy rereadability. It even hints at that idea on the last page when the letter “a” sneaks back up the tree when no one is watching. This is a clear indication that the story can go on and repeat itself as many times as the child would like, giving many opportunities to go through and learn the alphabet.

            While the language in this book has a jaunty feel to it, the illustrations only enhance that feeling with bright colors and playful art of injured letters like “p” being black-eyed and “f” sporting a band aid. Each spread uses a stark white background as to not overwhelm the pages with color, since the colors used are so bold. In the first part of the book, as the letters are all climbing up the tree, we see the gradual bending of the coconut tree with every turn of the page signaling the eventual tumble, adding more to the predictability element. This combined with the questioning of “Will there be enough room?” builds the suspension for the child, making them eager to see the eventual fall. On the page of the fall, we see all the letters jumbled in a giant heap yet still separate enough to distinguish each letter, making it a good page to have the children review the entire alphabet by pointing to and naming each letter in order. A nice touch is that the “adults” in this story are just uppercase versions of the lowercase versions we see running up the tree. This gives the opportunity to teach the difference between uppercase and lowercase as well as relating the uppercase version of a letter to the lowercase counterpart. In the end, the final spread of the book is the alphabet including the uppercase and lowercase letters displayed in order which allows it to be used as a nice final review moment.