ABSTRACT
Although Latina/o children’s television in the U.S. did not begin with Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer, Rosie Pérez accurately surmises the series’ global success. Contemporary media coverage of Latina/os and television include headlines such as NPR’s “From Ricky Ricardo to Dora: Latinos on Television” or Erin Texeira’s Associated Press article published under several titles including “TV for Kids Courts Spanish Speakers” in the LA Times, and its extended version, “Latino Characters Commonplace in Kids’ TV: From ‘Dora’ to ‘Dragon Tales,’ Bilingual Shows Target Growing Audience” in NBC News, Today. This chapter charts or-playing off Dora’s companion, Map-maps Latina/o children’s television programming from its onset, through the creation and rise of Dora the Explorer, and concludes with more contemporary renditions of Latina/o children’s television. Despite the latter, Dora remains the single most influential Latina/o television character for children in the U.S.
