Dora Wishes Kids Feliz Navidad

There are several shows for very young children that I find enormously entertaining. Sesame Street. Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks. And, of course, The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh. But some of them, especially those whose aims are primarily educational, leave me a little cold. Dora the Explorer is one of those.

I think having Dora teach kids Spanish is a cool idea, don't get me wrong. And perhaps those in the intended viewing group don't find it jarring to be asked questions by a television character, who then pauses to allow the children to answer. Saturday Night Live recently spoofed the show with a cartoon about a girl named Maraka, and while it was occasionally in poor taste, I found her abrupt pauses to ask random questions pretty entertaining. The technique makes for interactive learning, and it's certainly not any more awkward than an investigation on Blues Clues. But I'll take Sesame Street, with Maria's counting song and Rosita's Spanish lessons, over Dora any day.

Still, I took a peek at Dora's Christmas Adventure, a sturdy Christmas tree-shaped board book by Christine Ricci and illustrated by Piero Piluso. Like Jingle Bell Christmas - featuring the Backyardigans, also staples on Nick Jr. - it incorporates foil, giving its pages a sparkly look, and flaps, which allows for a more interactive experience, beyond the fact that Dora, who narrates the story in simple prose form, encourages the reader to interact with the book.

Dora, who winds up on a journey to the North Pole with her motley crew of useful companions, asks children to engage with the plot by searching for hidden items, such as Santa's missing articles of clothing. I'm not sure if it's comforting or worrisome to find that Santa is so scatterbrained... At least he's on the ball enough to get Dora to the first stop on his list, which is the reader's house. That's a pretty nifty trick, considering that thousands of different kids will probably read this book; let's hope they don't compare notes. Even if two friends were reading the book together, this aspect of the story would stretch Santa's magic to an absurd level, but I guess if he can deliver toys to kids all around the world in one night, he must have figured out some way of being in two places at once.

There's not a big emphasis on the Spanish in this book. Only four phrases are in Spanish, and Feliz Navidad is probably the only one worth mentioning. If you happen to have a recording of that song, playing it after finishing the book might be a good way to extend the experience. Of the Nick Jr. Christmas books out this year, I think the Backyardigans' is the best, but Dora's isn't bad, especially if you don't mind inanimate objects taking Spanish instructions from little girls.