Dora's Easter Basket was one of the many items the Easter Bunny left in Courtney's Easter basket last year. With Easter fast approaching again (where does the time go??), I thought I'd review this very cute book in case anyone has any little Dora fans who might like to see Dora's Easter Basket in their Easter basket this year.

About Dora's Easter Basket

Dora's Easter Basket is a 32 page paperback book adapted by Sarah Wilson from the screenplay written by Eric Weiner and is illustrated by Susan Hall. This book was published in 2003 by Simon Spotlight, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division.

Dora's Easter Basket is based on the popular children's show Dora the Explorer which can be seen on Nick Jr. Monday through Friday and on Saturday morning on CBS.

On the show Dora the Explorer, Dora goes on many adventures with the help of Backpack, who will suddenly contain anything that Dora may need (ex. - sticky tape, batteries, money, etc...). Another valuable item that helps Dora out on her adventures is Map, who resides in a pocket on the side of Backpack. Map is there to always show Dora the way, be it how to get to the baseball stadium or Dino Island, Map knows the way! Dora is never alone on her adventures for she always has her best friend Boots the monkey to accompany her not to mention various other friends who Dora and Boots run into a long the way, like Benny the Bull, Tico the Squirrel and Isa the lizard, just to name a few. Dora's adventures aren't always easy ones either because there is always Swiper the Fox to watch out for not to mention the Grumpy Old Troll who tries to thwart Dora's efforts to cross his bridge. In the end, Dora always accomplishes her goal and there is always a happy ending. (The new episodes that started in Sept 2003 also have "stars" that Dora and Boots catch and they too help Dora with any problem she may encounter. We've also been introduced to Dora's cousins, Daisy and Diego).

The Story

Dora and Boots are going on an egg hunt to find 12 special eggs that Dora's Mami and Papi hid. Each egg has a surprise inside, with the yellow one having the biggest surprise of all. Dora asks Map for help and Map tells her to look by the Duck Pond, at the Farm and at Grandma's House. On the way to the Duck Pond, Dora and Boots find 3 eggs! Uh Oh.....Swiper is about to swipe Dora's eggs! "Swiper No Swiping!!!" There, Dora and Boots managed to stop Swiper from swiping their 3 eggs! They look inside their eggs and find some small toys. Once at the Duck Pond, Dora and Boots see 4 eggs on some lily pads in the middle of the pond. How are they going to get to the eggs? Time to check Backpack! Inside Backpack are many things, one of them being a net, just the thing to get those eggs off the lily pads! Looking inside those eggs reveals a top, a yo-yo, and play jewelry. Next on to the Farm! Along the way they see an egg on the Sleepy Sloth. Dora wakes her up using the Spanish phrase "Buenos Dias". The Sleepy Sloth wakes up and hands Dora the egg which has a toy car inside. At the farm they find 1 egg next to an animal that says "oink" and 1 next to an animal that says "moo". Then there is an egg in the hayloft and Dora and Boots have to navigate the correct ladder to get up there. Inside these 3 eggs are more toys including stickers and bubbles. Finally, at Grandma's house, they find the big yellow egg that holds the special surprise. Oh No.....it's Swiper again! After successfully stopping Swiper from swiping the big yellow egg, Dora and Boots open it up to find......

Did you really think I was going to tell you what was inside the big yellow egg? I pretty much told the whole story so this way, there will be something for you to look forward to if you purchase this book.

Why We Recommend Dora's Easter Basket

When Courtney was given Dora's Easter Basket, she wasn't into Dora yet but nonetheless, she still looked through this book like she does all books, but it wasn't one she spent a lot of time with. That has changed this past winter when she began to become interested in the show. She is really getting into Dora with Boots being her favorite character. When she sees Boots she yells his name and makes monkey noises (so cute!). Dora's Easter Basket has Boots on just about every page so now this book is one of her favorites.

The illustrations in Dora's Easter Basket are wonderful! The colors are pastel yet done in a bright way and the characters are all true to the tv show. The colors are another one of Courtney's favorite things about this book and she yells out each color as she see them. She's too young to understand the concept of Easter and probably doesn't understand much of the story but because there are lots of colors and Boots is on every page, she's a happy camper!

Mommy is a happy camper too because while I adore Blue's Clues and the Wiggles, it's nice to see Courtney enjoying another show so that her interests are varied. Plus I'm running out of toys to buy her because she just about has all of the Blue's Clues and Wiggles toys out there. Bringing more Dora the Explorer into the house will be a breath of fresh air!

One of the things I like about Dora's Easter Basket is that while they do mix a couple of Spanish words in the book, the words are simple. Some of the Spanish words or phrases are Buenos Dias, Muy Bien, and Dora also counts to 12. Simple phrases that you can teach your child, or if you don't think your child is ready for that yet, just substitute the English words instead.

All in all, Dora's Easter Basket is a cute and colorful Easter book that any Dora fan would love to find in their Easter basket. It promotes using maps, counting, and is just plain fun. (It is a paperback book so you will need to keep it away from younger children who like to give books a thorough ripping)!

Related Website

Dora the Explorer on Nick Jr.

http://www.nickjr.com/home/shows/dora/index.jhtml

Another Dora Review

Dora the Explorer - Pirate Adventure


Recommended: Yes