Philadelphia Chickens
by Sandra Boynton

If you think of barnyard animals, humorous lyrics, and rhythmic poetic board books, Sandra Boynton may come to mind. She was born, the third child of four girls on April 3, 1953 in Orange, N.J. and spent her growing-up years in Philadelphia. She attended Germantown Friends School where her father taught English. Ms Boynton inherited her father's love of the written word and majored in English at Yale.

During summer vacation ,after her junior year, she designed gift cards and traveled throughout the east coast selling the cards to various stores. She continued to design cards throughout her senior year. After her graduation a Chicago company, Recycled Paper Greetings, signed her up. She states that over the past thirty or so years she has designed somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000 greeting cards. Her best known card (in her estimation) is "Hippo Birdie Two Ewes."

Her first book Hippo Goes Berserk was written in 1977 while she was still a student at Yale School of Drama. Since that time she has had approximately 39 books published -- both adult and children's.

Since the 90's Boynton has combined her rhythmic prose with music creating book companion CD sets. Rhinoceros Tap and Philadelphia Chickens are examples of this. Chickens, written with composer Michael Ford, features musical performances by several high profile stars.

Sandra Boynton is married to Jamie McEwan, 1972 Olympic bronze medalist in Whitewater Canoe Slalom. They live on a farm in the foothills of the Berkshires. They have four children, all of whom sing songs on the CD Rhinoceros Tap.

Books by Boynton that are available at nanasbooksforkids.com include: Rhinoceros Tap, Philadelphia Chickens, Barnyard Dance

For more information about Sandra Boynton, visit her website.