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!

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 :)

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..."

The older niece (5) has recently stopped liking this book, and will leave the room when I read it. Not sure what's up with that, she used to like it well enough. Her little sister, though, will stand by her desire to have it read when *normally* she caves to Big Sister Pressure.

This book has a very bouncy rhythm and tune (if you know the tune), and very colorful illustrations. It's just fun to read, and it's quick, too.

I definitely recommend it to young kids, especially any in the age where they're learning about letters.

What a FUN book! My two-year-old son loves this book and I love to read it to him. The words have a great cadence and I find myself singing each page! The pictures are very primitive which is nice (no sensory overload) and it helps young children to learn their alphabet. The story is super cute and the author uses great imagery. Although the illustrations are primitive, you can imagine these letters racing up the coconut tree! It's a wonderful book for any child's collection!

I remember reading this to my youngest sister so it brings back a lot of good memories.

This is the MOST FUN book to read. I giggle EVERY time I read it!!

Plus, you can't go wrong with a book that educates! (Alphabet)

This is a terrific alphabet book with a fun rhythm to it. My children love it! The reading on the CD by Ray Charles is dull.

I love the fun rhythmic way this book can be read. It was very well thought out and goes over each alphabet twice in a manner that would rivet a child's attention to the story. This ABC book would be quite difficult to top. I remember this book from my own childhood.

The book is excellent. The CD is annoying and very cheesy - it's the same song over and over and over. Opt for the book alone.

I checked this out from the library for my three year old twin boys
a year ago and they loved it...since then I would check it out every
few months and each time they showed the same enthusiasm for listening
to it. So I finally decided to buy it and it continues to be a
favorite. They also love to listen to the CD that comes with it, and
enjoy the many different versions of the book they hear.

My 3 year old son and 5 year old daughter absolutely LOVE this book. It's catchy and fun- keeps their attention with rhymes and bright illustrations. Definitely reccommend this book.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault has been a favorite of mine as a parent, a kindergarten teacher and now as a Library/Media teacher. The catchy rhythmic chant makes it as much fun to read as it is for the children to hear. The kids love being able to be part of the story, (they get to do the Chicka Chicka Boom Booms), and since part of teaching and reading aloud is acting, I get to give different voices to the letters, we always have a great time with this book. The illustrations are excellent for youngsters, while they are colorful and bold; they are not busy or overwhelming. In the midst of all the fun we have, the children are also being exposed to the alphabet, and when we are finished reading, one of the things we do is match capital and lowercase letters. In my opinion, a primary library is not complete without this book.

My 3-year old first heard this book in daycare. She came home one day reciting parts of it to me and I thought it sounded adorable, so I looked it up online and found a video of someone reading it. I fell in love with it and purchased it for her. She 'reads' this book several times a day and recites it constantly, and I can recite it now right along with her. It's a very fun and catchy way to get kids to learn their alphabet. This has turned out to be my favorite book that my daughter has, and would recommend it to every child.

I loved the first part of it, until the little letters started falling out of the tree and getting injured. Then it gets worse ... they sneak out of bed at night, not having learned their lesson (and obviously defying their parents) and climb the tree again! This isn't a message I want to instill in my little ones, particularly not when accompanied by a catchy song!

Furthermore: FALSE ADVERTISING!!! The CD says it includes the song SUNG by Ray Charles ... it's not, he SPEAKS it and he does an extremely poor job of that. His recitation is flat, unemotional, and boring. Your local kindergarden teacher would have done a better job, by injecting color, emotion, and excitement into the reading of the text.

Then there are several "street" rhymes (that's what THEY call them!) on the CD which are very uninteresting. Track #5 presents the authors singing a light, catchy tune which I quite enjoy, followed by more obnoxious street chants. The last chant presents the letters coming down the tree backwards (and safely). Why didn't the authors use THIS rhyme for the second half of their book (and song)?

Oh, and how do you think your child is going to learn the alphabet by memorizing this story? When I was young, yes, when I had to alphabetize things, I'd recite the alphabet song to myself, but that only included the letters of the alphabet, not a whole lot of other words in between. How is a child going to learn to alphabetize things (with any amount of speed) if he has to recite "A told B, and B told C, I'll meet you t the top of the coconut tree"? It will take them forever just to get to the letter D!

My recommendation to the authors and publisher: ditch the second half of the book for the backwards rhyme on the CD, and have Ray actually SING the song, and have your child's kindergarten teacher to read the story. Then I would give this book and CD 50 stars!

I bought this book as a supplement to a video book so I could make out the words to the song and teach the kids. Just wish there were more verses to the song since the kids ask for it so often!

this book is so cute and adorable! after watching the video made by scholastic on youtube, i was able to sing along using the book and my daughter just lights up when i do this! i love reading and singing this book to her - its definitely one of my favorites!

My son adores this book. All he has to do is see the cover and he starts grinning and squealing, "Boom Boom!" The rhythm and meter are such that even young children can remember and follow the progress of the book. And there are parts where you can invent motions and actions to go with the book that really make it a TON of fun for a small child. My son loves it. I do wish it came in a board book because my son hasn't learned to be careful with pages yet.

I put this book on our daughter's Christmas list after hearing it praised here and there. I'd occasionally seen it in lists of "must buy" books for wee ones, and a colleague spent one subway ride home with me extolling the virtues of it. He noted that its appeal may seem elusive to adults at first, but if read with the appropriate rhythmic delivery, small children ate it up.

Boy is that the truth. Among my daughter's dozens of books, it's hard for a new one to stand out. But this one did, and still does.

She was approaching 22 months of age at Christmas time, and she received about 8 books from relatives that holiday. This is the one she wanted to have read over and over. "Again!" she would exclaim after each reading: 3, 4, 5 times in a row.

Before long she was grabbing the book herself, flipping through the pages, and shouting passages out loud.

What's the secret? You got me. Part of it is just the silly sonic character of the writing. Kids revel in amusing syllabic combinations like "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" and "Skit Skat Skoodle Doot, Flip Flop Flee." What's not to love about that?

Oh, yes. There's a story here, too. The small letters of the alphabet all clamber up a coconut tree, causing it to bend and sag and to dump them all out on the ground. The parents (big letters) come running to retrieve their offspring. The "kids" all sport amusingly illustrated injuries ("l" is tied in a knot, "f" sports a band-aid, and so forth.) But when night comes, the letter "a" starts the merriment all over again.

Story aside; it's the infectious babble that makes the book irresistible.

Don't try to understand it; just get it for your kid, and be glad you did!

This is a fun product that came with an audio cd. The audio cd has several versions of the book, each one more fun than the last, plus it has a couple of extras. It's a fun book to just read as well. It's a great way for my daughters to learn their abc's.

I bought this for my daughter and she loves it. She reads it at school and now she has it at home. She couldn't be happier.

Parents who do not like this book do not understand that although it uses the letters as characters, it is not an "ABC book." Rather it should be seen as a rhythmic exercise to keep children excited about reading.

Now, for the quibble: "Sung by Ray Charles" sounds like fun to me, but he doesn't sing at all. Rather, he reads the book twice on the CD and then we are treated to two versions by children and one sung by the author. "Performed by" Ray maybe, but not sung. The CD is HORRIBLE. If you want to supplement with a CD at all, treat yourself to the scholastic video of this story. The music is wonderful and guaranteed to get kids singing along.

The children in my classroom love this book. They can participate in the reading of it and learn their letters. Fun to read and they never get bored with it. Wish I could find it in hardcover. The paperback wears fast.

A classic that never goes out of style. I have barely twos singing chicka chicka boom boom in the classroom, even when we aren't listening to it.

My son Loves this book and I have a tape with the song on there that we listen when he's taking a bath. He is always going "boom boom" when he wants to read or hear the tape.

My son loves to read this book and listen to the audio cd with the songs. Very well written and can easily catch kid's attention.

We started off with the board book version "Chicka Chicka ABC", which my son loved as a baby. Now that he's 2 and loves to sit through longer books, I wanted him to have the full version (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom). I also wanted the CD, which I had heard parts of previously and knew it was good.

He absolutely loves the book. He'll bring it to me and say "Want Boom-Boom", and asks for it if he can't find it. He also enjoys the CD, which has several audio versions of the book plus a few extras.

I love them too! :) It's a great book for getting a different take on learning ABCs, but it's also great for experimenting with rhythm, and just plain ol' having fun.

Don't waste your money. This book had great hype, but it's awful! I wish I had returned it sooner, but I got stuck with it because I was ill following chemo and couldn't get to the post office within 30 days in order to return it~ I bought it as a gift for my grandson, but will probably donate it instead~

My daughter is 13 months old and she gets excited when we read this book. I can see this being a long time favorite. If you are trying to teach your child the alphabet, this is the perfect book! Its bright and colorful and fun to read!

I can't believe I'm writing a great review for this book because I absolutely hate it. There's no story, the illustrations are amateurish, and I just found all of it mind-numbingly stupid.

But my opinion doesn't really count. My son LOVES this book. Not only did it help him learn his alphabet (which he managed to do well before he was two) but he loves this book so much that he's virtually memorized it! At under two and a half!! I'll say one line, and then he'll say the next line and giggle, and we'll go through the whole book this way. He just delights in everything about this book.

However, to be fair, those parents who expressed a concern over the injury to the letters may have a point. While it bothers my son not at all, he is definitely aware that they've fallen, and that they and/or the tree may be injured or sad.

But it's hard to give less than 5 stars to any book he wants to hear at least 5 times a day, every day.

The rhyming, the story line and pictures are very engaging in this book.

When I received this for my baby shower, my mom and I read this together and laughed out loud at how cute it was. I also have a cd to it and we like to listen to it in the car as well.

It's also educational, but don't tell your child/ren that!

My 2yr old daughter loves this book. She recently learned to say her ABCs and loves to find each letter in the story. She also loves to say Chicka Chicka Boom Boom when all the letters fall down. Is now a favorite bedtime book. Definitely recommend!

My son LOVES this book! I thought it was kinda silly at first, but the more i read it to him, I love it also! It has such a catchy rhythm to it, I keep catching myself saying it while I am driving, cleaning, ect.... My son knows his alphabet, but if he didn't, he sure would now after reading the book! Highly Recommended!!!

We learned that our daughter loved this book from story time at school. I searched just about everywhere and couldn't find it. When I found it on Amazon, I was very pleasantly suprised with the price. My baby girl has this story memorized and 'reads' it to her brother, her Tiger and anyone who will listen. Its a wonderful, happy story with a great rhyming quality to it. Its fun and you can really play out the words and phrases. I wished that it was in hardback form because we have read it so much that I'm going to have to buy another one due to the pages falling out of this paperback! Love this book - its an absolute MUST for any children's library!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a rhyming story about the alphabet, meant to teach preschool and pre-k age children about the letters of the alphabet. The story itself is very simple.

The story comes in several editions and formats. Our edition of the story starts like this:

A told B
and B told C,
"I'll meet you at the top
of the coconut tree."

And continues page by page through the rest of the alphabet. The use of both lowercase and uppercase letters is helpful, and allows young readers to learn both letter cases.

My youngest had good fun with this one when learning the alphabet.

Not that great a hit with my grandchildren (ages 3 and 5)
Maybe they're spoiled by Dr Seuss more fascinating rhymes.
I wouldn't purchase it for a gift.

This cute tale of the alphabet's mischievous lowercase letters came highly recommended from a friend who works at an elementary school and has three kids of her own. Although her children are all grown, she wouldn't give up her copy - she loves it that much! I bought the book for my daughter and upon first reading I understood why my friend loves it so much. The rhyming and rhythms in the text make the book a joy to read, plus it's a great exercise in learning the alphabet. It's one of those books that's just as much fun for the adults as it is for the kids. I purchased the book in hardcover, and am glad with that decision since I plan to keep this book around for a long time.

This is a fun and exciting book- my 5 y/o entire kindergarten class LOVES it! We purchased this book with a CD that Ray Charles is reading-- it's SO FUN!!! You cannot go wrong, every kid needs books like this.

My 2 1/2 yr. old LOVES this book. He used to call it "boom boom" and this is the only book he ever wanted to read!

I have been using this book with children for many years as a nanny and am happy to use it with my son. It is very catchy and colorful. My son loves reading it and I find him singing the words often. We have it in both the board book and full hardcover version. What fun it is!

My 13 year old daughter told me, "This is the BEST BOOK EVER!" They had it at her after-school program in grade school, and all the kids loved it the best.

This book has become one of my daughter's favorite bedtime stories. I had read and heard great things about it, but was still somewhat hesitant about ordering it because I wondered if it was too simple for her active little mind. Needless to say, I was wrong. It's a great book with wonderful, vibrant illustrations. A definite must have!

Bought for my granddaughter. She loves print and is fascinated with books and newspapers. A fun way to teach to alphabet.

We got this book for our niece for her birthday and apparently she can't put it down. She just turned 2 and books are her favorite thing in the world. Apparently, she is having everyone read it to her over and over again. She has also memorized the final word in the phrases so a "chicka chicka boom" leads to her yelling "boom!". This book is a definite winner and I'm finding that many parents experience the same reactions when their child reads this book as well.

Bought for my granddaughter. She loves print and is fascinated with books and newspapers. A fun way to teach to alphabet.

Our daughter is 28 months old. She LOVES this book and can recite it verbatim! It has helped her get a jump on her ABC's which she can now say without any problems. It was perfectly timed for her. We would recommend this for anyone and will put it on our list of potential gifts!

We got this book for our niece for her birthday and apparently she can't put it down. She just turned 2 and books are her favorite thing in the world. Apparently, she is having everyone read it to her over and over again. She has also memorized the final word in the phrases so a "chicka chicka boom" leads to her yelling "boom!". This book is a definite winner and I'm finding that many parents experience the same reactions when their child reads this book as well.

I was skeptical about this book. But after reading this a few hundred times it does have a rhyming scheme that grows on you. My children enjoy the book and read along with me. I think that may be the reason why I like it. It shows my children's interest in what is being read.

my son is still too little to start learning alphabet, but he loves listening to this CD. it is a wonderful combination of fun words, interesting story and good music. my 18-month-old son could listen to it all the time.

This is one of my daughter's favorite books. It is a must for all houses with little kids.

Some books you read over and over again for the message. This book you read over and over again because it is just plain fun. Too often we forget that learning should be fun. This book helps everyone remember the joy of simple, fun rhymes. Not only will your kids want to read it again and again, you'll enjoy reading it as well.