Amazon.com
Similar to the interactive environment of Blue's Clues, but geared toward a younger audience, comes Dora the Explorer, a fully animated Nick Jr. cartoon. Like all Dora episodes, To the Rescue resembles a computer game (sans mouse and cursor) to teach Spanish, number and object recognition, deduction, reasoning, and early math skills. Its host is a girl, not much older than her viewers, with a sunny disposition, bilingual abilities, and a no-nonsense approach to problem solving; in other words, a worthy role model for toddlers and preschoolers who willingly play along with the show's format. In the first of two 25-minute segments, Dora discovers that three award-winning piglets have escaped from their pen. She enlists the help of viewers to rescue them before Swiper the Fox swipes their blue ribbons. "I need your help," she explains. "If you see the fox, yell 'Swiper'." And yell they will. They'll also choose items from her backpack, count piggies, and steer the swine clear of danger. The second segment charges viewers to help Dora return a lost baby bird to her mother, who lives in a hard-to-find little blue tree. But first, they must select an object from Dora's backpack to help dry the wet bird and then locate the tree on her map. Children will learn a handful of Spanish words as they successfully resolve the dilemmas, and can shake out their wiggles with "The Monkey Dance." Parents should be mindful that Dora is meant for the ages 5-and-under crowd. Older kids will find it repetitive, predictable, and slow-going--the very qualities that make it a winner for its intended audience. --Lynn Gibson
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