As the mother of two Asian daughters, I was really excited to hear about the new television series that Nickelodeon is releasing this summer on Nick Jr., titled “Ni Hao, Kai-lan!”

The show will feature a young Chinese girl, Kai-lan, who lives in a sort of fantasy land, along with her animal friends…a koala bear (who wishes he was a panda bear), a pink rhino, a monkey and a tiger. Kai-lan’s grandfather is also an essential character in the show.

The characters and artwork are the creations of Karen Chau, whose father came to the U.S. in 1970 from China. Although he left China with only one Hong Kong dollar, he is now a multimillionaire living in California. When Karen Chau created Kai-lan, it was her image of herself as a five year-old.

The series will not only teach Chinese vocabulary words (much like Dora the Explorer teaches Spanish words), it will focus on traditional Chinese values, such as respecting elders and the value of family, as well as helping young children learn about their feelings and their actions.

In this New York Times article about “Ni Hao, Kai-lan”, Mrs. Chau said that she wanted Kai-lan,

“to be a Chinese-American role model, to be independent, to have a voice, to take the initiative and to not always have to follow others.” Ms. Harrington, the executive producer, said she hoped the series would have a special resonance for the estimated 60,000 girls in the United States who have been adopted from Chinese orphanages.

Another aspect of this new show that is relevant to transracial adoptive families, beyond the show being a fun and cultural opportunity, is the fact that the voice of the character Kai-lan is being done by a girl that was adopted from China as an infant. Jade-Lianna Peters is the voice of Kai-lan, and she was adopted from China at the age of eight months, and now lives in Milwaukee with her parents.

I think this show is going to be a lot of fun. For one, I love the picture! My little kids all love the Dora and Diego shows on Nick Jr., and have picked up a lot of Spanish words, traditions, etc. I love the idea of a show that features Asian culture and an Asian character, instead of just having an Asian character in the “line up”.

I would love to see Kai-lan become as popular as Dora, with all of the dolls, t-shirts, back packs, toys, etc. that Nickelodeon loves to sell. I would love for my kids to walk around saying Chinese words for colors, numbers, directions, etc. without even really thinking about it. I would love for my Maggie and Amanda to have a favorite show with a cute little girl that looks like they do.

I am looking forward to seeing this show. (Look for it in August…I am sure there will be oodles of commercials once it gets a little closer.) :)

Grant over on the China adoption blog, also wrote about this here.

*photo from Nickelodeon