The stars of Sandra Boynton’s Philadelphia Chickens will soon be back on a new stage. The author and illustrator, whose 80-plus books have sold more than 85 million copies, is reprising her toe-tapping, crooning flock and their talented animal sidekicks in Philadelphia Chickens: The 21st Anniversary Edition. Due on September 5 from Simon & Schuster’s Boynton Bookworks, the book has a 100,000-copy first printing.
The original edition of this songbook and CD package made a splash when it was published by Workman in 2002. It clinched the top spot on the New York Times bestseller list, received a Grammy nomination, and went platinum after sales of the CD topped one million copies.
Billed as “a catchy and quirky musical in a book,” Philadelphia Chickens was produced by Boynton in partnership with composer Michael Ford. The book introduces lyrics and musical notation to “17 ½” illustrated story poems, which are performed on the fully orchestrated CD by the Bacon Brothers, Kevin Kline, Laura Linney, Patti LuPone, Meryl Streep, and other notable talent. Boynton’s daughter, Caitlin McEwan, contributes a playfully plaintive rendition of “Faraway Cookies,” Boynton’s love song to a cache of sweet treats that are just out of reach.
A Single Corral for Boynton’s Menagerie
With the launch of the Boynton Bookworks imprint in fall 2022, the author’s backlist and frontlist found a home under one roof for the first time. “It’s really been more of a shepherding experience from one house to another, rather than a ‘republishing,’ ” Boynton said of her books originally released by Workman and Little Simon. “My Workman books were still in print and quite lively, but my hero Peter Workman died 10 years ago, and a few years later Suzanne Rafer, my fabulous editor of 40 years, had the nerve to retire.”
Boynton felt that Workman “wasn’t quite home for me anymore,” and when Hachette Book Group acquired the publisher in 2021, she learned that “my scrappy younger self” had negotiated an exit provision in such an event. The author retrieved the rights to her Workman titles and Jon Anderson, president and publisher of S&S Children’s Publishing, offered Boynton her own imprint. “I was and still am floored and honored,” she said, welcoming the chance to bring her Workman, Little Simon, and future books together under Boynton Bookworks.
Jeffrey Salane, v-p and editorial director of Little Simon, worked closely with Boynton on the anniversary edition of Philadelphia Chickens as well as other Boynton Bookworks projects underway.
“The rebranding process and moving Sandy’s art into a digital platform has been a joy,” Salane said. “With Philadelphia Chickens, she redrew the entire book and was able to boost the colors to another level, so it feels fresh and inviting and more akin to her newer titles. Yet the art still remains true to the original personality and soul of her animal characters. It is fascinating to have a chance to retrace all these steps with Sandy—and to get a glimpse into how her creative mind works.”
Moving Forward
Boynton is clearly pleased to be expanding her creativity into new realms, while still embracing the tried and true. “Photoshop is my best non-human friend,” she noted. “I can now recreate the art on top of the original art, and—most important—separate the black line from the color, so the art reproduces far better than it did in the old days.”
And currently, Boynton reported, “I’m deep in songwriting and recording territory—alongside my fabulous longtime music partner, Michael Ford—for a wildly eclectic Christmas album, titled Cows and Holly. It will be the same format as Philadelphia Chickens and will be out a year from now.”
Beyond that, Boynton is on the fence about her next creative endeavor—and contentedly so. “I’m not by nature a planning kind of person,” she said. “So I’ll be as surprised as anyone as to what comes next. I hope it’s good!”
Philadelphia Chickens: The 21st Anniversary Edition by Sandra Boynton, accompanying CD produced by Boynton and Michael Ford. S&S/Boynton Bookworks, $19.99 Sept. 5 ISBN 978-1-6659-2697-3
