Saturday, October 13, 2007

The Great Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Controversy

I love seeing which Google searches cause people to click on my blog.

The two most popular searches that seem to keep reappearing are "knuffle bunny pronunciation" which I explain in this post, and "parsley grinder" which I briefly mentioned in this post about The Higher Power of Lucky.

And then there are questions I'd be happy to answer, but I find out about them after the person has already clicked away. For example, there was a search done for "the substance that burns Hermione when she opens her hate mail." The answer is Bubotuber pus, if anyone's looking for it. By the way, you haven't lived until you've heard Jim Dale say "bubotuber pus" in the American audio version of the 4th Harry Potter book.

My favorite search is the one that just showed up today: "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom controversy." There's a controversy about Chicka Chicka Boom Boom? The book or the rhyme? What on earth is it about? I'm dying to know. (I even googled it myself and came up empty).

The only thing that I can think of that should be controversial is the board book version of this fabulous title. It's titled Chicka Chicka ABC, and only 5 spreads are included (the hardcover book has 12 spreads.) Even my son (when he was one and a half) recognized that over half of the book was missing and asked for the rest of it. The poor alphabet falls down from the coconut tree but never gets back up. How depressing.

By the way, if you've never read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom with a child, I can't recommend the experience highly enough. It's a compulsively readable book about the alphabet. (You didn't know there was such a thing, did you?) It's got an addicting rhythm structure and is a surefire hit with the 1 to 3 year old crowd.

And if you know about the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom controversy (sure to be being debated in the great halls of academic learning at this very moment) please tell me what it could possibly be. Any theories?

UPDATE: I've now gotten 10 hits for "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom controversy" after I mentioned my curiosity about it on a listserv. There's no issue with the book that I know of. I didn't mean to create a controversy where there wasn't one!

4 comments:

  1. I can't begin to imagine what the controversy could be. Please post if you ever do find out.

    I love reading this book one on one and with a group of kids. When I worked in kindergarten it was one of the biggest hits.

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  2. I see I'm not the only one who's curious about it!

    Isn't Chicka Chicka Boom Boom great? My son loves it.

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  3. I got this book for my Kindergarten class and it came with a tape of Ray Charles reading it. The one way to make it better is have Ray Charles read it in his gravelly voice!

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  4. The Ray Charles version sounds terrific... he's the perfect narrator for it. I will definitely check it out. Thanks for telling me about it.

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