kiddie Cliff's notes?
Written: Feb 07 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: learning through repetition; cute characters
Cons: repetitive nature makes it nearly impossible to sit through an episode
The Bottom Line: Go ahead, let 'em watch and enjoy, but download Spinner and plug in your headphones for half an hour.
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| kilinahe's Full Review: Dora the Explorer |
Blue's Clues seems to be the standard by which all other kids' shows are measured. Nobody can stop raving about Blue, and granted, lots of kids' shows just fall short of its high-energy antics and sheer brain power.
For instance, compare Blue to a relative newcomer to the Nick Jr. lineup: Dora the Explorer. Whereas Blue's trademark is a kind of Socratic, finding-answers-by-answering-questions approach, Dora is more akin to a midnight cram session. The key here is to drill it into their little heads.
The gist of the show is that Dora goes on adventures with her pet monkey, Socks, and along the way they encounter various problems that they have to solve in order to get to where they're going. These puzzles are solved by clues that are supplied at the top of the show. And repeated. And repeated. And repeated. The effect is something like that of a Saturday Night Live catchphrase, except it changes from show to show.
My daughter can't get enough; she had to only watch one episode before she started asking to watch it again. There's a clear start-to-finish problem-solving, solution-finding method at work here, which I feel good about entertaining her with. Kids aren't really exposed to too much linear thought and logic these days, in my opinion, and Dora actually fills the bill quite nicely for a show in its demographic. The characters are cute; no grating, harsh cartoon colors (unlike Blue); and it's fairly upbeat without being saccharine.
So why can't I bring myself to sit down and watch it with her? It's quite a noisy production. There's a lot more shouting than I'm used to in a preschool-type show. In short, it's just kind of too much for grown-ups. The repetition and noise is very engaging to a kid, however, so if you can get your little one to watch, you're lucky. It's a bit more complicated than the simple animation suggests. A three-year-old is just getting a handle on the concepts presented in Dora; a five-year-old will probably get the most from it.
Recommended:
Yes
Type of Program: Cartoon or Animated
Program Quality: Thought-provoking, original material
Best Suited For: 3 to 5 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
kilinahe
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Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Reviews written: 74
Trusted by: 23 members
About Me:
"In your face, Space Coyote!"
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