Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Schultz
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cheerful picture book makes Christmas musical.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 3+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
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 ...
Families 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 :
- Illustrator : Sandra Boynton
- Genre : Holiday
- Topics : Animals ( Wild Animals ) , Holidays
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Little Simon
- Publication date : December 20, 2011
- Number of pages : 32
- Available on : Nook, Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : December 3, 2025
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