Review - Dora Celebrates Earth Day!

Dora Celebrates Earth Day! (Dora the Explorer)
by Emily Sollinger
illustrated by Dave Aikins
Date: 2009
Publisher: Simon Spotlight/Nickelodeon
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 24
Format: e-book
Source: library

Dora explores the ways we can all make a difference and help save the planet by doing simple things at home. Perfect for teaching preschoolers about the environment and what they can do to help protect the planet, this book will be printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper with soy ink. The paper is FSC certified. Diego, Boots, Mami, Papi, and all of Dora's friends get involved and share their favorite tips about what YOU can do to help!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Here's another Earth Day book full of common-sense things everybody should be doing anyway. I guess it makes kids feel good to think that they're "helping" the planet by turning off the water when they brush their teeth and donating unused toys and books rather than throwing them out (who does that anyway?!), but it's really just skimming the surface. Now, we don't want to depress children with the unsolvable problems of our world, but if we convince kids that little things like this are actually helping, we're not really raising knowledgeable, responsible citizens who might actually have the will to make meaningful changes.

Should you turn off the water while you're brushing your teeth? Yes, of course. But it's not going to make much of a difference. Most fresh water goes to agriculture (especially animal agriculture); household water use is, quite literally, just a drop in the bucket. Cutting down on meat and cheese consumption would do more for water use than simply turning off your household tap for a minute or so.

And I couldn't help but wonder as I looked at Dora's twin baby siblings: Are they using cloth diapers? Or are those plastic poop-capsules just going to end up in the landfill for a few thousand years, leaching chemicals and pathogens into the groundwater?

These Earth Day books for kids don't go far enough. Us adults don't have the will to solve the problems, so it's going to be up to today's kids when they grow up. Books like this don't do anything but foster complacency by convincing kids they're saving the world when they're really not.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5