Christmas Parade
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A lot or a little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Christmas Parade is a joyful rhyming picture book from author-illustrator Sandra Boynton in which different wild and farm animals play in a marching band that ushers in the arrival of Christmas. The book features lots of red and green, a Christmas tree, and the words "joy" and "Merry Christmas," but there's no religious content. Preschool-age kids will enjoy identifying the animals, colors, and musical instruments in Boynton's cheerful pictures. There also are small groups of animals to count.
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What's the story?
In Sandra Boynton's picture book CHRISTMAS PARADE, a pig in a room with a Christmas tree hears sounds coming from outside and looks out the window. A Christmas parade is coming up the street, led by an elephant playing a bass drum. More animals follow: chickens playing bassoons, hippos with snare drums, cows playing saxophones, ducks with trombones, mice with piccolos, and a tiny bird playing a huge tuba. At the end of the book, all the animals play and sing a Christmas carol.
Is it any good?
Christmas Parade is not necessarily one of the essential Sandra Boynton books, but it's joyful and cute, and it teaches children to recognize different musical instruments and animals. As with many other Boynton picture books, this one can be used to help teach young children to count and recite rhymes. This is a cheerful, educational, and totally nonreligious Christmas book for preschoolers.
Talk to your kids about ...
Parents can talk about instruments in a band. Which ones do you think make the best sound? Make some Christmas music of your own with a musical instrument, a plastic container "drum," or anything else that makes a sound you like.
Does your family like to celebrate holidays by singing and playing music? Which ones? Which songs do you like?
Which kind of animal plays a drum in the book? What do the cows play?
Book details
- Author: Sandra Boynton
- Illustrator: Sandra Boynton
- Genre: Holiday
- Topics: Cats, Dogs, and Mice, Holidays, Horses and Farm Animals, Wild Animals
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Little Simon
- Publication date: December 20, 2011
- Number of pages: 32
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: March 4, 2020
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