Christine Ricci

Dora's TV show is slow-paced and redundant, annoying as hell, but in her books she's less objectionable and the basic thing where she loves adventures and brings cakes to her granny is certainly redolent of a laudable spirit.

Another one of our books that we bought because of the characters, not the quality. These are not my favorite stories, but my girls like them, and they get to choose what books we buy, as well. In this story, Dora must go on a quest to help the mail delivery bird find his lost bag of Valentines. They go beyond Boots's house, through Isa's party, and past the troll bridge to find the lost treasure. Along the way are multiple flaps to lift and a few shiny foil decorations. Some points for show more interaction, and of course, if your child likes Dora, they'll love this story. It very much reads like a Dora episode. From my perspective, the text is excessive for the board book format - younger readers won't have the patience to sit through it, and older readers who would have the patience are already reading picture books. The narrative and the audience do not match. Yes, children will still enjoy the pictures and flaps, and parents can summarize the story, but then what is the point of purchasing a book that you always have to summarize. So my daughters and I have different opinions. I think the book is mediocre, and I don't like that the creators are oblivious to appropriate reading levels. My girls like Dora. At least it furthers the idea that reading is fun, a steady theme in our household. show less

I like this book. I liked that the book had many Spanish words. I learned that “¡ábrete!” means “open”, “la ballena” means “whale”, “la ventana” means “window”, “la garra” means “claw”. I also used the English/Spanish dictionary and pronunciation guide in the front of the book. This helped me pronounce the words correctly. I also enjoyed the illustrations of the submarine being stuck in the whale and in the clam. Then, it opened when they said show more “¡ábrete!”. The main message of this story is that knowing Spanish on a journey can help when others speak Spanish. show less

This is a great picture book starring Dora the Explorer. Dora has to travel to fairy tale land to save her best friend Boots. Boots was put under a spell by a witch and Dora has to complete several tasks in order to become a true princess. She performs the tasks and is turned into a princess and is able to kiss Boots and wake him up.

My daughters were both huge Dora fans. This is a really great way to expose young children to spanish and other cultures.

I would use this in a unit about the show more spanish culture. I would also use this fun book as an actual play for the kids to act out. show less