Bilingual baby animals and Spanish lullabies: the appeal of Nickelodeon’s Canticos

Can characters singing beloved Latino children’s songs become as universal as Winnie the Pooh? That’s the mission of Susan Jaramillo, creator of Canticos, the Emmy-nominated bilingual digital video series, book series and app on Nickelodeon.

Compared to other parts of the world, Americans are pretty monolingual. A 2017 report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences found fewer than 21 percent of Americans speak a language other than English at home — and worse yet, only a fraction speak, read and write that second language well enough to use it in their everyday lives.

“Canticos is such a wonderfully authentic brand with beautiful vibrant characters,” said Pam Kaufman, president of Viacom Nickelodeon Consumer Products. “We just loved how Canticos brings together kids and families from all backgrounds through bilingual stories and culturally authentic songs and characters; the appeal is universal.”

Read the article and watch the interview on NBC News