- This article is about the book, you might be looking for the episode by the same name. Please see Kristy and the Baby Parade (episode)
Kristy and the Baby Parade is the 45th book in The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin.
Back Cover Summary[]
The Baby-sitters just love little babies. So of course Kristy has the great idea of entering a float in the Stoneybrook Baby Parade.
All the girls have to do is round up a bunch of adorable babies like Squirt and Emily Michelle, dress them in costumes, and plop them on a float. Easy, right?
Wrong. The float looks like a big orange blob, the costumes are hideous, and the babies won't stop crying! S.O.S — the Baby-sitters' float is about to sink!
Summary[]
The BSC enters babies on a float they design for a parade. All the members have their own ideas about the float and the parade is a disaster for them. They learn about cooperation and teamwork.
Subplot[]
Mrs. Prezzioso pays for a BSC member to go through an infant care class at the Stoneybrook Community Center. Kristy gets the job with the Prezzioso , but the entire club (except for Logan and Shannon) takes the class.
Characters[]
Kristy's Family
- Kristy Thomas
- David Michael Thomas
- Sam Thomas
- Charlie Thomas
- Karen Brewer
- Andrew Brewer
- Emily Michelle Brewer
- Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer
- Watson Brewer
- Nannie
BSC Members
Kids
- Jenny and Andrea Prezzioso
- Ricky and Rose Salem
- Ethan - Don and Anita's son
- Jamie and Lucy Newton
- Laura, Myriah and Gabbie Perkins
- Nina and Eleanor Marshall
- Becca and Squirt Ramsey
Adults
- Mrs. Perkins
- Mrs. Prezzioso
- Anita and Don - infant class teachers
- Mrs. Liz Salem
- Sue and John, Mrs. Nielsen, John Davenport - students at the infant care class
- Slim Peabody - the grand marshall of the parade
Locations[]
- Brewer/Thomas House
- Kishi House
- Stoneybrook Community Center
- Prezzioso House
- Newton House
- Stoneybrook Public Library
- Ramsey House
- Marshall House
Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]
- Legos
- Darryl Strawberry
- Boston Red Sox
- Candy Land, Clue, Monopoly (games)
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Spider-Man
- Venice Beach, California
- Misty of Chincoteague
- The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe
- The Wizard of Oz
- Sesame Street
- Barbie
- Care Bears
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Raggedy Ann
- Star Wars (Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca)
- Goodnight Moon
- Girl Scouts
- Rambo
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
- This is the first introduction of the Salem Family who would later return in Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies.
Inconsistencies
- Jessi doesn't know what colic is, but Mallory told her in Hello, Mallory, also Squirt is mentioned to have colic in The Baby-sitters Remember.
- In the infant care class, Dawn asks what can be done to help colicky babies, which implies that she never babysat for anyone who had colic. But in #34, she babysits for Carol’s friend’s kids (Julie and Gregory). Gregory had colic.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
I got the idea for Kristy and the Baby Parade from my summers at the New Jersey shore when I was growing up. As you know, Sea City is the beach town that the members of the Baby-sitters Club visit in various books, starting with #8, Boy-Crazy Stacey. It isn’t a real town, but I based it on several towns that I used to visit for summer vacation.
In one of those towns, every year around the middle of August my family and I would see flyers announcing a baby parade to be held over Labor Day weekend. Any parents who were interested could enter their baby in the parade. The parents dressed up their children, and prizes were awarded for most beautiful baby, best costume, and so forth. My sister and I were too old to be in the parade, but it was a lot of fun to watch. Who knew what a great story idea it would be? You never know where an idea is going to come from.
Trivia[]
- An episode of the Netflix series adapted the book for the season 2 finale.[1]
- This book is one of the few books to have different cover art between the original 1991 cover and the 1996 reprint cover.
- Kristy and the other girls have a crush on Don, who teaches part of the class.
- One of Kristy's favorite books is Good Night Moon.
- Mrs. Prezzioso is on the planning board at Jenny's pre-school.
- Claudia is the one that suggests that the BSC all take the course.
- Kristy develops a crush on Don one of the teachers at the infant care class.
- Mary Anne has a hard time diapering.
- Kristy wears a skirt to the last infant care class and dressed as the little old woman in the parade.
- Mary Anne had a hard time with the evaluation.
- The clubs float ideas include:
- Kristy: baseball theme, the babies are in little uniforms and the float like a baseball diamond
- Dawn: surfin' USA, the babies on surf boards in swimsuits and the float designed like a beach
- Mary Anne: three little kittens, the babies dressed as kittens and Tigger on the float
- Stacey: New York, New York: model of the skyline and dressing the babies in mini tuxes and evening gowns
- Mallory: dress the babies like horses
- Claudia: space aliens
- Jessi never pitched her idea if she had one
- All of the babies meet during a the building of the float. Which would be a good foreshadowing if all of the babies went to the same elementary school eventually.
- Andrea won the stroller division.
- Kristy's hatred of bagpipes is first brought up in this book which would come up again in Claudia and the Terrible Truth.
- The BSC gained Mrs. Gold as a client from the infant care course, but the family is not mentioned again.
Gallery[]