by J A Wright

Created on: August 30, 2009   Last Updated: August 31, 2009

Dora is a cartoon Spanish girl who lives with her family and has a best friend who accompanies her, seemingly at all times, Boots the monkey.

The premise of the programme is that Dora has some form of adventure hence being an explorer, but the adventures are relatively low key and suitable for pre school children. Invariably there is something to be found, a key, a tree, a flute or some such items as the story is tailored around. There will invariably be five phases to each episode, the story arc and introduction, the first location en route to the ultimate goal, the second location, the final location and then a final summary.

Dora and Boots will then begin a journey with a narrative, they will somehow know where to find the item, their animated pal The Map will then musically and repetitively present the information of other places they must get to en route. This provides educational opportunities where the characters can ask questions of the viewer to engage interaction and/or interest.

This is usually the stage where my twins start jumping about telling Dora the answers to the multiple choice questions she poses. Invariably it seems to be the third answer and either my twins know that or they're reasonably bright, I can't tell which. They often say the answer first... so maybe.

Dora and Boots meet family, friends, animals and peculiar animated inanimate objects, like a singing bridge along the way to help them find the right path, solve the puzzle or whatever the issue is and that's quite a clever device , the vocal interaction is good and emphasis is placed on key words which is useful for vocabulary expansion. Dora also uses Spanish words, often verbs, sometimes numbers but all useful linguistic education.
My daughters at 2.5 can say 'pequeno' meaning small, 'grande' large, several numbers, some familial names and some verbs here and there. Not bad in my opinion.

Dora also has an animated backpack, which is filled with useful items which are generally identified during an open questioning from Dora, to find something which will help them during their adventure. Another good opportunity to look at differences and gain comprehension on use and purpose.

You might also see Swiper The Fox, Dora's sneaky adversary who usually steals a crucial item, leaving Dora with yet another problem to deal with and conveniently giving new opportunity to interact with the viewer.

One the problem is solved there is time for reflection, Dora will discuss with Boots and with open questions to the viewer about the adventure, again allowing for participation and language development but also teaching children the value and reinforcement of reflection on experience and learning. Of course they aren't aware of it, but we parents are and I approve.

The characters are all colourful and well created, ideal for toddlers over about 2 years I'd say, previous to that the language development and problem solving is a little beyond them, though it probably wouldn't hurt. I know my girls showed zero interest despite Dora's big eyes and round face - usually something which would appeal to a small childs psyche.

I would guess we have another couple of years interest in Dora left and that suits me fine, it's never too early for teaching other languages, the characters are wonderfully innocent and there is low level problem solving and education in there during the entertainment, that's great.

For breadth, or boys, Dora also has a male cousin Diego who is an animal rescuer and has similar experiences to Dora whilst also educating about animals, their habits and habitats.

It's just a shame there's nothing to move onto after school age which would further perpetuate the language skills in a similar manner.

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