PHILADELPHIA CHICKENS

Once again, Boynton goes Broadway: “ . . . having completely forgotten how much work had been involved,” the creators of Rhinoceros Tap (1996) offer a second, equally effervescent musical revue, packaged as a hardcover book/CD combination. The songs mix chorus-line numbers—“COWS. / We’re remarkable COWS. / And wherever we go, / it’s a fabulous show. / Oh, you know we are COWS . . . ”—with such individual arias as “Please, Can I Keep It?,” “I Like To Fuss,” and “Belly Button.” All but two of the songs, which were previously published as board books, are new. The CD’s 19 toe-tapping tracks are performed, with appropriate theatricality, by an oddball cast headlined by the Bacon Brothers, Meryl Streep, and (wait for it) Scott Bakula; the lyrics, decorated with typically stylish Boynton animals, are printed in a large-type, sing-along format, then reprised between musical notation. Ex-toddlers and their parents alike will happily cut the rug along with the title song’s Pennsylvanian pullets. (Picture book. 3+)