Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a children's book written by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, and illustrated by Loid Ehlert. Starting with the letter a, child letters of the alphabet (represented by lowercase letters) all begin racing each other up to the top of the coconut tree, but can they all fit up there?
The book's catchy rhymes and simple but memorable construction paper-like art-style have made it an iconic staple of many a schoolroom and library since it was published in 1989, with many who grew up in the 1990s and 2000s having fond memories of learning the alphabet with it when they were little. The book's success lead to it becoming a small franchise and eventually receiving a follow-up in 2004 called Chicka Chicka 123, which was based around counting rather than the alphabet (but still involved a race to the top of a tree, an apple tree in this case).
The books have seen several adaptations into other mediums, including a 1995 PC game by Davidson & Associates in association with Simon & Schuster, and two musical Animated Adaptations in 1999 (Boom Boom) and 2004 (123). Both adaptations were sung and narrated by famed musician and vocalist Crystal Taliefero-Pratt.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, will there be enough room? Here come more tropes up the coconut tree:
- Alphabet Song: The book is about a bunch of sentient letters racing each other up the coconut tree. Each letter is introduced in order and in a lyrical manner as they scale the tree, fall out, and suffer Amusing Injuries.
- Amusing Injuries:
- Many of the letters receive cartoonish injuries after falling from the coconut tree, such as d with a skinned knee (represented by their bump being wrapped in a bandage), e stubbing their toe (represented by their end being wrapped in a bandage), f being "patched up" (thus wearing a bandage), g "all out of breath", h and i being tangled together, j and k crying, l being "knotted like a tie", m being "looped", n being "stooped", o being "twisted alley-oop", p having a black eye, and t having a loose-tooth. Only the letters a, b, c, and all letters from q onward (with the exception of "loose-tooth t") seem to avoid any adverse affects from falling from the tree.
- When the numbers flee the tree in 123 to escape from the bees, 11 ends up bent, 8 is cracked (though not mentioned directly in the book), and 6 is twisted up. All three of these numbers have recovered by the book's end (though 8 is now wearing a bandage).
- Animated Adaptation: Official adaptations of both Boom Boom and 123 were created by Weston Woods Studios in 1999 and 2004 respectively, and many unofficial animated adaptations can be found on YouTube.
- Anthropomorphic Typography: The letters of the alphabet in the first book and various numbers in the second. The lowercase letters seem to be the children while the adult letters who show up to help the younger ones are uppercase letters.
- Bee Afraid: A swarm of pushy bees force the numbers to bail from the tree in 123. Only 10 doesn't leave the tree, giving the number 0 an idea for how to make the bees leave.
- Flight: In the animated adaptation of the first book, f and w are shown flying to and from the coconut tree, f by flapping their nubby "arms" like a hummingbird and w by using their own "arms" to flap around.
- From Zero to Hero: Literally in 123, as it's 0's idea to go up the tree beside 10 (to make them 100) that finally runs off the rude bees that scared the other numbers away, leading to the other numbers declaring 0 the "hero of the number tree!".
- Good Parents: All the capital letters run to hug and comfort the lowercase letters when they fall out of the tree and injure themselves.Mamas and papas
and uncles and aunts
hug their little dears,
then dust their pants. - Here We Go Again!: As night falls, there is a full moon, and a goes right back to the coconut tree, once again challenging the rest of the alphabet to race to the top of it.
- The Last Straw: Once the last four letters w, x, y, and z enter the tree, the tree bends over too far and all the letters spill out of it onto the ground.
- Never Bareheaded: The number 5 in 123 is shown wearing an enormous blue hat, though the narration doesn't call any attention to it unlike 70's "long and sandy" hair, until it mentions "top hat 5" when the numbers fall out of the tree.
- Pun: p comes out of the misadventure in the coconut tree with a black-eye, making them a black-eyed p.
- Shrinking Violet: The number 0 in 123, who wants to climb up the apple tree, but is too shy to speak to the other numbers already climbing up and begins to cry after 99 climbs up there.Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3
Will there be a place for me? - Title Drop: "Chicka Chicka...BOOM! BOOM!" is the sound effect made when all the letters fall out of the tree at once.
- The Tooth Hurts: t gets a tooth knocked loose after falling out of the coconut tree.
- Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion: "Still more! W and X, Y, Z! The whole alphabet up the— ...Oh no!" (cue the letters falling out of the tree)
