Dragon Tales is a fantastical cartoon that my three year old and I watch on the Sprout channel we got through directstartv.com. The soft colors of the cartoon make this a relaxing part of our nighttime ritual. There is something really magical about dragons. The entire program reminds me of a fairy tale which is one of my favorite kinds of stories.

The main characters are a brother and sister named Max and Emmy. The brother and sister go to Dragon Land during each episode to spend time with their dragon friends Cassie, Ord, Zak, and Wheezie. Max and Emmy use a charmed dragon scale and the routine incantation ‘I wish, I wish, with all my heart, to fly with dragons, in a land apart.’ My three-year-old has this phrase memorized.

The dragons have a teacher in Dragon Land named Quetzal. There are elements of bilingual teaching (Spanish) integrated into each episode. The Dragon Tales cartoons are also imbued with music and valuable life lessons presented in an easy-to-understand and entertaining format.

This series has been nominated for several Emmy Awards and has been successful in earning a Parents’ Choice Silver Award. There are several CD’s available that showcase the upbeat music of the Dragon Tales series.

Max and Emmy find their way back home at the end of each story by reciting the phrase ‘I wish, I wish to use this rhyme to go back home until next time.’ My daughter and I always look forward to the Max and Emmy’s next adventure in Dragon Land.