I Really, Really Don't Like Parties

When Dora receives an invitation to a party, she really doesn’t want to go – she went to a party once and hated it, it was very loud and busy. She thinks up lots of reasons for not going – a gorilla stole her party dress; a giant frog ate her shoe, and she was just too poorly to go. But her mum insisted that she should go and that she might even have fun.

Once at the party Dora discovers it is just as noisy as she thought but when she crawls under the table to escape, she finds she is not the only one wanting to enjoy the party quietly.

This is a lovely story about taking a risk and challenging your own expectations. It shows there are lots of ways to enjoy yourself, and not everyone wants to be loud. The illustrations are lively and amusing and the varied text style adds to the book’s appeal.