8. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

8. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault. Illustrated by Louis Ehlert.

I do not recall reading this book as a kid, or having it read to me as a kid. It was not a staple on my bookshelf. I liked it, but it's definitely not an instant favorite of mine.

Basically all the letters of the alphabet climb up a coconut tree. Then all the letters fall out of a coconut tree. Then the letter A climbs back up a coconut tree. The end.

I think this book will be better for Jenny when she's learning her letters, but until then, I might just leave it on the shelf. I don't have nostalgia goggles on when I read this book.

I do like the illustrations though. The bold and bright colors really appeal to kids, and there is a great contrast between the letters and the coconut tree. It'll be easy for Jenny to pick out the letters from the background, which will be GREAT when we start learning our alphabet. I also like when the letters get personalities after falling out of the tree. It sounds terrible, but when the letters get hurt is when the story really picks up. "Skinned-knee D" has a bandage on. "Stubbed-toe E" is swollen. "Patched-up F" has a bandaid. And when G is "all out of breath," it's laying on its back. It's amusing, and it's when the book really gets interesting. This will sound terrible, but it's like, back in the late '90s, when you'd be watching Titanic on 2 VHS tapes, and you'd skip the first tape because the ship doesn't sink until the second tape. Let's be real, when the ship hits that iceberg is when that movie really picks up. Same can be said for this book, only replace "hitting an iceberg" with "falling out of a tree."