Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Dora’s Eggs
Illustrator: Jane Chapman
Board Book
For ages 3 to 5
Tiger Tales, 2007 ISBN: 978-1589258013
Dora the hen has laid her very first clutch of shiny brown eggs and she is feeling rather proud of herself. In fact she is feeling so proud of her lovely eggs that she wants to “get all my friends to come and admire them.” So off Dora goes to invite her friends to come to see her eggs.
The first person she goes to see is Debbie the Duck. Unfortunately Debbie is far too busy teaching her babies to swim and Dora cannot help noticing that the ducklings are awfully nice. Perhaps even nicer than her eggs. Next Dora goes to see Penny Pig. Penny Pig is having so much fun with her wriggling piglets that she doesn’t even hear Dora’s words and in all honesty Dora doesn’t blame her. After all the piglets are “much nicer” than Dora’s eggs.
Poor Dora, all the babies she sees around the farm seem to be “nicer” than her own eggs and she gets glummer and glummer by the moment. Sadly she goes back to her nest to sit on her eggs, and then something remarkable happens which changes everything for Dora.
There are times when our greatest treasures don’t look that great anymore when we compare them to what other people have. Poor Dora’s eggs are wonderful to her at first until she sees the ducklings, piglets, puppies, lambs and other babies. Thankfully, when her chicks hatch her happiness is complete and we can celebrate with her, relieved that this first time mother gets to have joy she so rightfully deserves. Wonderfully illustrated in a folkloric style, comfortingly round Dora and her farmyard friends are sure to become firm favorites with little children who have a soft spot for animals.
