Manhattan museum invites kids to share the adventures of Nickelodeon's Latina superstar

NEWSDAY, PART 2
BY STEPHEN WILLIAMS

One modern, high-tech method to judge the extent of one's fame is via eBay. Just the other day on the Web site, 4,841items were listed under "Dora the Explorer."

Now, it's nice that a Dora the Explorer Tooth Fairy pillow was available ($7.50), along with a Dora the Explorer Talking Dollhouse ($24.98) and a "We Did It!" singing-dancing doll (about $20).

But this week, the animated Latina star of her own kids' cartoon series on Nickelodeon takes the fame thing one step beyond eBay: She's the subject of her own exhibit at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, aimed at preschoolers and expected to run through 2005.

The three-dimensional adventure through Dora's world is focused on inter-activity and multiple levels of learning, says Andrew Ackerman, the museum's executive director. "Dora interacts, she asks the kids in her audience to solve problems," he said. "She also treats them with respect.... She's very real to kids."

A bilingual experience

The exhibit, which occupies a mezzanine-like space on the museum's second floor, also is designed to increase children's awareness of Latin culture, with most signage in Spanish as well as English.

Splashes of colors decorate the murals around the floor - leafy green trees and aqua blue skies - and the exhibits themselves are decorated in vibrant oranges and yellows. A life-size rendition of 7-year-old Dora, complete with her trademark big eyes and accompanied by her friend Boots, greets visitors as they arrive on the second floor.

All the elements are designed to make education - even math - painless by reinforcing the adventures with entertainment, such as plush animals to touch, music to sing along with, even a "soundcatcher" to replay the noises of birds, animals and the wind as it rustles through a rain forest.

"Each area of the show is about how children learn," says Leslie Bushara, deputy director of education for the museum. "We hope parents and children will journey though this exhibit together and develop a conversation about what they see and hear."

The exhibit opens with a kid-sized "pyramid" that contains walls with numbers, puzzles and a stacking game. Inside are hidden shapes and surprises. As Dora would say, "Vamonos!"

Following the Map - a key character in the Dora series, who always seems to get her to where she needs to go - kids are led to a rain forest maze, along and around tree trunks and fallen logs, where slimy creatures hide in trees and kids can activate a wind machine.

At the Animal Rescue Center, visitors will meet Diego, Dora's cousin, who speaks not only English and Spanish but Animal as well. Soft animals can be treated - the baby Jaguar, for example had injured his tail, and kids are encouraged to wrap him in a blanket and sing him a song to make him feel better.

At Dora's house, with its red tile roof and Mediterranean-style trim, visitors can create a story by sequencing pictures and objects with words in Spanish and English. Dora also keeps a "happy box" in her room, where she stashes her favorite flute, bracelets and blanket.

Nickelodeon's 'Dora'

The "Dora" cartoon series debuted on Nickelodeon in 2000 after some time in development. Originally the heroine was ethnically undefined, but the creators decided further on to make her a multilingual Latina. The voice of Dora has been supplied since the show began by 13-year-old Kathleen Herles, who lives in Deer Park.

The series has spawned dozens of licensing deals: There are Dora coloring books, crafts, clothing, dozens of videos and, of course, the collectibles on eBay. The show has been nominated for several Emmys and has won the George Foster Peabody Award for achievement in television broadcasting.

WHEN&WHERE The first-ever "Dora the Explorer" exhibit, cosponsored by Nickelodeon and the Children's Museum of Manhattan, opens tomorrow at the Museum, 212 W. 83rd St. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; admission is $8, free for kids under a year old. Call 212-721-1223.