Parents of preschoolers familiar with Dora the Explorer, will be all too familiar with Swiper the sneaky fox and the villain in the tv series. For better or worse Swiper, Map, Boots and Dora’s other friends haven’t kept up with the ever growing Dora. As Dora grows up this October into a new tween version she leaves behind her old friends. Dora promises us however that she’s found four new friends to continue on with her new adventures as a 10 year old.

The new Dora will be available as a doll from Mattel complete with USB connectivity. The inclusion of computer connectivity into the doll will be interesting to see how well Mattel will be able to engage tweens with an interactive doll experience.

The transition has caused quite a reaction across the Internet as some parent’s feared Nickledeon was turning Dora into a commercial whore, pushing new products on their children. What floors me is when experts speak to issues outside of their expertise. Take marketing professor Jean-Pierre Dube’s analysis of the Dora transition.

A lot of people think of Dora as something for their small kids. And part of the reason people like Dora is because it teaches their kids to be inquisitive and curious in an educational way

If professor Dube had consulted with any child development expert he would have understood that television isn’t a teaching aid, let alone suggest Dora to be a proselytizer on the merits of inquisitiveness. In fact excessive television is linked to ADD in children as well as slowing down some aspects of their development.

So as your children grow, their toys and television experiences will grow with them. Just be thankful that Dora is a much easier experience to share with your children than certain unnamed purple dinosaurs of the past.

We’ll miss you Swiper.