Book Review: Sophie's Animal Parade by Amy Dixon

Sophie's Animal Parade

by Amy Dixon

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Published: May 5, 2015

ASIN: B00W0LT2E2

Amazon Synopsis:

| Age Level: 3 - 5 | Grade Level: P – K

Mama calls it Sophie’s imagination, but Sophie calls it magic. Everything Sophie draws comes to life, and one day when Sophie feels lonely, she decides to draw a friend. But the polar bear cub isn’t very happy in Sophie’s room, where it is much too warm. So Sophie tries again. But the duck wants to swim in a pool full of water. And the giraffe is too tall for the tiny room! It isn’t long after the elephant shows up that things begin to get a little too wild and Sophie must demand that everyone go outside. In the backyard, with all her new friends, Sophie meets someone new—someone who happens to be an expert lion trainer. It looks like Sophie’s magic may have worked after all.

Featuring a charming crew of animals and two children who believe in magic, this sweet and funny picture book teaches children to combat loneliness with creativity, persistence, and a little imagination. Filled with the lovely watercolor illustrations of Katia Wish, Amy Dixon’s Sophie’s Animal Parade takes children on a journey toward friendship.

Book Links

Amazon  *  Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Sophie's Animal Parade is a cute book about a young child with a great imagination and a lot of creativity. Sophie loved to draw and everything she drew came to life. She draws herself an animal friend and it appears in her room. Soon she has a room full of animals and shoos them all outside. She meets another child outside who says he's a great lion tamer and they begin to become friends. Of course, joining the two friends and their animal friends is a lion that Sophie has drawn for her friend to tame.

I thought this was a lovely book that speaks about friendship and using imagination to bond two children together in play activity. I liked that the activities they were engaged in were physical activities and had nothing to do with the electronic games and toys that are so pervasive in our children's play times these days. The use of imagination almost seems to be a lost art among children. I like how Sophie's Animal Parade encourages the use of imagination in play.

The pictures were clear and realistic. It was easy to tell what the animals were supposed to be. Parents and children could use the drawings to talk about what colour those animals were or talk about relative size and then apply that information to the actual animal and the information would be correct.

I thought that this book would make good story for parents to read to very young children and then for slightly older children to begin reading for themselves. I gave this book 5 stars out of 5.

 Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

About the Author:

Amy Dixon grew up as one of seven siblings, so the only peace and quiet she ever got was inside a book. Once she had her own kids, she rediscovered her love for picture books at the public library. It was the one place she knew all four of her kids would be happy . . . and quiet. She writes from her home, where she lives with her four little inspirations and her marathon-running husband, Rob.

Author Links

Website  *  Twitter  *  Amazon Author Page  *  Goodreads