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Overview
From the co-author of the bestselling Chicka Chicka Boom Boom comes this adorable counting adventure for children of all ages! Suzanne Tanner Chitwood's colorful collage artwork features mischievous mice dancing through the story. Readers can count down the Congo Line and tally up the Tangoing, Tip-Toeing mice on every page, and learn about time, too!
A rollicking, rhythmic romp through the numbers. Read it out loud-it rocks.
Twelve mice that live in a cuckoo clock wander out to find birthday cake and have a party while Max the cat sleeps.
Synopsis
From the co-author of the bestselling Chicka Chicka Boom Boom comes this adorable counting adventure for children of all ages! Suzanne Tanner Chitwood's colorful collage artwork features mischievous mice dancing through the story. Readers can count down the Congo Line and tally up the Tangoing, Tip-Toeing mice on every page, and learn about time, too!
A rollicking, rhythmic romp through the numbers. Read it out loud -- it rocks.
Publishers Weekly
Unfortunately, this confusing counting book makes a weak companion to Archambault's now classic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, co-authored with Bill Martin Jr. The repeated and infectious refrain-this time it's "Boom Chicka Rock, Chicka Rock, Chicka Boom!"-is engaging, but neither art nor text clarify the complicated plot and visual clues. Without explanation, the characters go by various names (Max the cat is sometimes called Lion, the mouse is sometimes Hour Number One); and only near the end of the book do readers discover that the 12 mice represent the hours on the clock ("Tomorrow can't begin/ Till every hour is home/ And every number's tucked in"). Because there is such variance between what the text describes and what the illustrations depict, it's almost as if Archambault and Chitwood (Wake Up, Big Barn!) are telling two different stories. For example, for mouse Number Eight's line, "Climb over the Lion before it's too late/ And jitterbug over to the Birthday Cake!," the illustration shows neither cat nor cake and depicts only two of the eight rodents as they gleefully ride inside sugar and cereal bowls with wheels. Nor does the body language of the mice indicate the dances mentioned at various points in the text. Despite some clever rhythms and wonderful collage compositions featuring expressive mouse characters, the plot of the story is so abstract that the inclusion of time seems to muddle rather than complement the counting rhyme. All ages. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewJohn Archambault, author of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, teams up with illustrator Suzanne Tanner Chitwood for this hip-shakin' tale in which 12 little mice try to dance their way to a birthday cake.
Coupled with Chitwood's zesty cut- and torn-paper artwork, Archambault's rhyming text begins with a mouse who "stepped out of his little mouse hole / To see what was left in the cereal bowl." When he sees Birthday Cake on the buffet, he and his mouse pals begin to "Boom Chicka Rock, Chicka Rock, Chicka Boom" their way from their home in the clock, past "Lion" (a snoozing cat), and toward the goody table. Busy with their conga and bunny hops as each mouse prances about and recites a rhyme, the 12 mice get steadily braver until "the midnight mouse -- Number TWELVE -- / Brave and brash, started to yell, 'Let's jump rope with the Lion's tail!' " As you would expect, "Lion" wakes up with a "Griff Gruff Growl," and after they "Sock Hop back to the kitchen clock," the final stroke of midnight means time for settling down safe at home.
Filled with plenty of tongue-turning rhymes that are sure to keep storytimes peppy, Archambault and Chitwood's book is a toe-tapping treat you shouldn't miss. Chitwood's artwork is brilliantly suited to the author's boogy-woogying words, resulting in a marvelous complement to his other rockin' books and such reads as Giles Andreae's Giraffes Can't Dance. You'll be shaking your tail feathers with this one. Matt Warner
Publishers Weekly
Unfortunately, this confusing counting book makes a weak companion to Archambault's now classic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, co-authored with Bill Martin Jr. The repeated and infectious refrain-this time it's "Boom Chicka Rock, Chicka Rock, Chicka Boom!"-is engaging, but neither art nor text clarify the complicated plot and visual clues. Without explanation, the characters go by various names (Max the cat is sometimes called Lion, the mouse is sometimes Hour Number One); and only near the end of the book do readers discover that the 12 mice represent the hours on the clock ("Tomorrow can't begin/ Till every hour is home/ And every number's tucked in"). Because there is such variance between what the text describes and what the illustrations depict, it's almost as if Archambault and Chitwood (Wake Up, Big Barn!) are telling two different stories. For example, for mouse Number Eight's line, "Climb over the Lion before it's too late/ And jitterbug over to the Birthday Cake!," the illustration shows neither cat nor cake and depicts only two of the eight rodents as they gleefully ride inside sugar and cereal bowls with wheels. Nor does the body language of the mice indicate the dances mentioned at various points in the text. Despite some clever rhythms and wonderful collage compositions featuring expressive mouse characters, the plot of the story is so abstract that the inclusion of time seems to muddle rather than complement the counting rhyme. All ages. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
To the repeated refrain of "Boom Chicka Rock, Chicka Rock, Chicka Boom," the frisky mice come out to rock and boogie while the cat sleeps. The rollicking rhymes describe the frantic activity of mice numbered one to twelve like the kitchen clock as they enjoy birthday cake before the cat wakes up. By midnight they are all tucked back in the clock, safe from the cat, so "tomorrow can begin." The story line is a bit fuzzy (What are the mice doing in the clock?) but the counting practice is there with the fun. Chitwood's frenetic torn paper collages add visual zip to the verses. Each mouse in different color overalls is appropriately numbered; each is humorously appealing in the collaborative games. Max the cat awakes too late for the party. Compare this with Chicka Chicka 1 2 3 by Bill Martin, Jr., Michael Sampson, and Lois Ehlert (Simon & Schuster) the recent alternate sequel to the perennial favorite ABC Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Martin, Archambault, and Ehlert ((Simon & Schuster). 2004, Philomel Books/Penguin Books for Young Readers Group, Ages 4 to 8.—Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz