Spirit Rangers

What a great show! It's geared to preschool, my 4 month old is just now starting to see and hear and this show is great for having in the background while she grows up. I love the colorful design and the sweet stories. The only reason I didn't give it 10 stars was that some of the songs get a bit saccharine and don't quite hook for my taste, but otherwise it is a great show for kids and even my husband and I chuckled at the sweet jokes along the way. Definitely love the amplified indigenous life and values. We need more of that. The episodes range on topics and some are more overt than others. I absolutely commend the episodes on treaties and mascots, they were both handled so well and made adult topics accessible to the preschool level. I now want a bike horn that says "turtle".

Ten Things That Got a Star

We "premiered" this series at an Indigenous People's Day event. I was able to see the first episode several times and noticed more and more each time! There is a lot pack into this family-friendly show emphasizing courage, helpfulness, problem-solving, and a connection to the natural world. Here are then thing that got a star in my estimation:

Hearing the Chumash language References to origin stories Setting in a national park Native music and drumming Trickster character Portrait of elder in the foyer - is that a real person?

Hearing elders' voices All-native writing room Released on Indigenous People's Day Mention of fry bread and the solstice - always important in Alaska!

I genuinely hope this show is a hit and gets more seasons/episodes. The characters are fun, the voice acting is good, beautiful animation, and song that will get stuck in your head. But hey, they are great songs so no complaints here!

I can already see my daughter internalizing the messages of some of these episodes. And I am so happy that this show tackles topics that may be uncomfortable for some. Cultural appropriation/ignorance and changing bodies (in the episode is about losing baby teeth but could also be interpreted as growing up in general/puberty) are right there along with learning patience and cheating being wrong. It is never too early to introduce these concepts to young ones and the show does a great job framing these issues from a child's perspective. Not to mention gives great examples as to how to navigate these social situations and problems.

I want to see what else a show like this can do. It is a welcome entry to the rotation of children's programming we keep which includes: Magic School Bus, Wild Kratts, Molly of Denali, Arthur, and Sesame St.

Give it a watch folks!

Can't say enough about this delightful, absolutely spectacularly animated show. The quality of the images are incredible--- just gorgeous! The actors voicing ate all top-notch and perfectly cast. Netflix has really hit a homerun on this one. I love watching it myself along with my grandchildren, who can't get enough of it. I can't think of anything they could have done better. The music is also really great, with very talented singers and wonderful lyrics. The lessons in the episodes are truly wonderful, and I see my grandchildren taking them in and transfixed. I highly recommend this show to all! Hoping for many more seasons!

Spirit Rangers is yet another in a line of preschooler-aimed shows where the main characters have superpowers. Only this time, it has the main heroes transforming into spirit animals.

In this show, siblings Kodi,Eddy, and Summer are children to two rangers in Xus National Park, and have become junior park rangers. However, the three harbor a secret: they are friends with the spirits who live among them, and they have been given special medallions allowing them to transform into animals (Kodi into a bear, Summer into a hawk, and Eddy into a turtle), ready to help when there's a problem in the park involving animals.

For a preschooler show, this is pretty neat. As the main characters are Native American, this gives the show representation, as we need more Native American heroes in media. Also, the episodes are split into two adventures (like a Disney Junior show or other preschool shows on Netflix), and while it does involve solving problems involving animals, the show loses a couple stars on the ground that it follows the same cliche formula originated by PJ Masks (episodes focuses on one of the main characters making a mistake and learning a lesson from it during the rescue). However, the writing is good, as they add in some names from animals as said in the Samala Chumash language (which adds to the representation, as it's a language of an actual Native American tribe, so it's good that they added in something new), and the voice acting is pretty good. This series is worth checking out if you are a parent with kids.