Customer Reviews

Dora Goes to School (Dora the Explorer)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a typical Dora book: there is someplace to go, our old friend "Map" gives us directions, and we go along the adventure with Dora. This is a fun book, and my daughter loves having me read it to her. I like the way the book uses "Alphabet City" and "Number Mountain" My daughter knows her ABC's & can count to 20, but she has not been as good at recognizing the written symbols. This has really helped with that. It is an educational book. The only thing, if you are buying this to try and make your child more comfortable with the idea of going to school, that is really not addressed. However, if your child is anything like mine, just realizing that "Dora" goes to school too can help!

"Hola! I'm Dora and this is my best friend, Boots. It's our first day of school today! And look, there's our teacher, Maestra Beatriz! She's on her way to school too." --from the story

Maestra Beatriz is riding her bike to school and gets a flat tire. Dora and Boots help Maestra Beatriz make her way to school with the help of their trusty friend, Map. The quickest way to school is through Letter Town and over Number Mountain. El autobus helps take them through Letter Town, which feature streets paved with letters. As children find the route with the alphabet, they sing the ABC song.

Then, Azul the train arrives to help take them over Number Mountain. While the book doesn't teach the child to count from 1-10 in Spanish, it *does* show the numbers forwards and backwards so they can count from 1-10 up the mountain...and 10-1 as the go down the other side.

With the schoolhouse in the distance, Dora's cousin Diego shows up on the back of a Condor. Encouraging the reader to say "Squawk, squawk!" to call the Condors, Dora, Boots, Maestra Beatriz and Diego rides on the back of the birds all the way to the school house. Before they enter the door, there are 8 items from Backpack that are shown...but which ones are Maestra Beatriz' school supplies?

They all make it inside before the third bell...even fending off an attempted theft from Swiper the fox!

My only beef with this book is that "Maestra Beatriz" is quite the mouthful to say over and over and over. I would have thought they'd pick simpler name to say for the story.

This book really helped with the "first time in school" jitters that my little Grandaughter felt. She loves Dora and if Dora could face it and get through it then she could too. I highly recommend this book for the great lesson it teaches. Plus, the kids love to read it or have it read to them too!!!

My daughter received this yesterday as a gift from us, and we all love the book. She's pretty busy with ABC-learning currently, and the book helps her with learning counting on English, her vocabulary increases. The book is recommended also if you want to teach basic English skills to your preschoolers in a funny and pleasant way, especially if the child is already familiar with Dora.

My daughter loves Dora so I bought this book hoping it will teach her about school and ease her into the transition. The content actually has very little to do with school. Even my daughter who loves Dora doesn't care for it very much.

I suppose I should be happy that my daughters are more into Dora than princesses. At least Dora is a strong girl who's admired for her ability to solve problems, not just her mile-long hair and unbelievable curves. Still, I wish the Dora books weren't so formulaic and contrived. Some are more contrived than others and, unfortunately, this one is on the more side.

Dora's teacher gets a flat tire on her bike on her way to school, so Dora to the rescue! Honestly, if a teacher can't figure out what with a flat tire and how to get herself to school, and if she needs the help of one of her students to make it, what kind of teacher is she? The trip through Letter Town is rather cute - kids have to find their way through the town by following the alphabet. And the trip up the Number Mountain might appeal to kids who are into trains. My older daughter likes the trip back down - she had never learned to count backward before. But the final leg of the trip is just head-shaking. If Diego and his condors could fly them from there, why couldn't he have just cut to the chase and picked them up at the beginning of the story? But even by condor flight, they barely make it in time. We're supposed to believe that the teacher would have made it on her bike if only her tire hadn't gone flat?

Like all Dora books, this one includes a few handy Spanish words. I doubt these words do much for kids actually learning Spanish, but it may help to develop an interest in learning Spanish and possibly even Spanish culture.

In short, if your kids are into Dora, they'll probably like this one as much as any other Dora story. Like all Dora books, it's moderately educational, and there's nothing a parent could object to, but it's not exactly good children's literature.

I purchased this as a gift for the holidays. I love the lesson learned from reading the book. It will be useful for years to come.

Our 2.5 year old absolutely loves this book and we have fun reading it to her.

My three year old loves Dora and this book was great to get her used to starting daycare/preschool. We read it together and then she would read it to me. Good buy.

This book is not only positive in that it has more than one nationality portrayed, but it also displays positive helping skills. My child loves hearing about school.