Dora's Sunny Day Fiesta: Follow the Reader Level 1 (Dora the Explorer Series) Book

It's not an activity book . . . it's an interactivity book! Join Dora on a sunny day as she talks, sings, and makes music thanks to incredible portable sound technology! It's the book you can play again and again with the talking pen!

Children's Literature

A "talking pen" is the gimmick used in this spin-off of the Nick Jr. television program Dora the Explorer. The book and toy package touts Level 1 early learning skills such as color association, active listening, reading and coordination. The molded-plastic figure of Dora is unmistakably dressed in her trademark flowered sarong, with sunglasses shoved on her head. The user merely presses the scanner tip of the Dora-headed pen on a page's green spot . . . slides it down the arrow. . . and is rewarded with a Dora sound bite. Thus, the cartoon personality's voice walks the user through a series of basic matching, maze and counting activities centered on a beach theme. It is much ado about little, and Dora's chirpy high-pitched squeaks from her opening "Ola!" forward will surely drive parents mad long before the pen's triple-A batteries expire. Reviewer: Kathleen Karr