Chicka Chicka Ho Ho Ho (Chicka Chicka Book, A)
Chicka Chicka, Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault gets a holiday twist from William Boniface and Julien Chung. Chicka Chicka Ho Ho Ho, a Christmas book, starts with the same bouncing story about the letters of the alphabet. “A told B and B told C, I’ll meet you in the branches of the Christmas tree.” In the original book, the letters meet in a coconut tree.
Turn the page and D, E, F, and G join in. “We’ll be the decorations on the Christmas tree. Chicka chicka boom boom! Everybody zoom zoom!”
So far, so good. The rhyme keeps the beat of the original story. Turn the page and H, I, J, and K tag along. Chicka chicka ho ho! Everybody go go! The story stays true to the first book.
“Slip, drop, topple, plop! Tumble down and see; someone puts a square beneath the Christmas tree.” The plot turns away from the falling letters and focuses on shapes of gifts under the tree. It starts with a square, a two-dimensional shape. Shouldn’t it be a cube since it’s a gift? Is the author using square to make it simpler for younger children?
Bright and sometimes shiny art fills the pages. The shiny circle is the shape of the next gift. Then a gift the shape of a rhombus is the third gift. Is the author using two dimensional terms to keep it more accessible to young children? The book is intended for preschooler to third graders. The fourth gift is the shape of a triangle. The next gift is the shape of a rectangle. The letters of the alphabet decorate the tree.
The gift shapes are shiny on every page. The pages have cheerful red and white striped borders. The letters come in many colors: pink, yellow, orange, blue, and purple.
The centerfold spread shows the tall tree. The star is the last shape, and it goes on top of the tree. The word star does not appear in the text.
The next page shows a change in the rhythm. “Chicka chicka ho ho ho! Time for presents—let’s go go go!” For a book that borrows the fantastic rhythm of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, this page is a let-down. The rhythm doesn’t fit the rest of the story. It seems to be there only to justify the title of the book.
One wonders if the editors considered naming the book Chick Chicka Ho Ho. That would’ve kept the rhythm of Bill Martin’s masterpiece. Readers still would’ve known it would be a Christmas story.
The end papers show the alphabet in order, both upper and lower case. It’s a nice touch, keeping the theme of the book.
Chicka Chicka Ho Ho Ho will be a nice edition to the pile of holiday books. It will help teach the alphabet. It will teach two-dimensional shapes. It will introduce strong rhythms and rhyme right up to, but not including, the end.