American Girl is one of my favorite companies because they inspire girls to follow their dreams and explore the world. The 2015 American Girl doll, Grace Thomas, helped me teach my daughter about Paris and this year’s Lea Clark™, the 2016 Girl of the Year, has arrived to help us explore Brazil. Known for its spectacular beaches, lush rainforests, rich culture and exotic cuisine, Brazil is big news this year as host of the summer Olympics.
Spotlight on Brazil: Meet Lea, the 2016 American Girl Doll of the Year
Lea is an exotic beauty with olive skin, golden brown hair and hazel eyes. She comes dressed in a colorful Brazilian festival outfit with adorable strappy sandals and fun accessories including a messenger bag and a pretend compass necklace.
Spotlight on Brazil: Meet Lea, the 2016 American Girl Doll of the Year
In Lea’s signature book, Lea Dives In, she shares stories about her hobbies (including photography, hiking and travel) and inspires girls to get out and explore. Lea is a big animal lover so my daughter was drawn to her right away.
As we read about the Amazon rainforest, it was a great opportunity to pull out the map and talk about the region’s ecosystems and wildlife. We had just received a Little Passports subscription box featuring Brazil so that really helped tie it all together.
Spotlight on Brazil: Meet Lea, the 2016 American Girl Doll of the Year
Like other American Girls of the Year, Lea has a wide array of fun accessories (think swim, kayak, hiking, photography) and outfits that are sold separately. I’m secretly lusting after this Rainforest House…
Spotlight on Brazil: Meet Lea, the 2016 American Girl Doll of the Year
I love that she encourages young girls to see the world but I also love that she encourages girls to help protect animals with the Wild at Art program, a year-long fund-raising campaign in support of World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Which American Girl doll is your favorite?
Special thanks to American Girl for a providing us with Lea. As always, all opinions are my own.
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Its all good with Lea. Lovely doll that offers lots of opportunities to learn.
Of course it is a great article.
Sigh…I rarely ‘miss’ not having daughters, but I certainly do when it comes to American Girl dolls! I’d love to share them with a little girl. How fun…and educational!
My daughter loved American Girl dolls and I really appreciate the thought and research that goes into creating each character and their backstory. I once her a talk from the author of the Rebecca Rubin books and a lot of her research in creating the character for the books also influenced her clothing and accessories.
That rainforest home is so adorable. I’m so glad these dolls are making their way around the world and introducing new cultures to North American kids.
Awesome! Love toys that educate …
How fun! I live in a house full of boys, so American Girl is a foreign concept to me, but I still love the idea!
Somehow my daughter missed the American Girl phase – although she loves the books! Kinda makes me feel like we missed out on some childhood magic…
With 3/4 of the population dark haired mixed race in addition to a sizable African population, I find it shocking that the folks at American Girl would choose to represent Brazil with a fair-haired doll. Sadly, it well may be a wannabe look for the Brazilians, who idolize whiteness and show dislike for the darker skins among them enough for them to oust a former dark-skinned Ms Brazil calling her “a monkey”. The doll is even lighter than the little Brazilian child playing with her. One can only guess what effect this has on the already skewed notion of beauty and the self-loathing that comes with denial and disdain for the very the ancestry that created you.