Australia’s most beloved animated blue heeler, Bluey, was nominated for an Emmy this week. It’s now a year since the cartoon about the six-year-old puppy, her younger sister Bingo and her mum and dad first aired on ABC TV. Since then, the family (of dogs) navigating the ordinary and extraordinary (human) experiences of domestic life have captured the hearts of children and adults alike, becoming the most-watched program of all time on ABC iView.

Now, it’s up for an award in the preschool category of the International Emmy Kids Awards. It’s only the latest in a series of good news stories for creator Ludo Studios; in June, the Queensland-based production company inked a deal with BBC and Disney to send Bluey around the world.

No shade to the other eminently deserving nominees, but here is a completely unbiased list of reasons why Bluey deserves all the Emmys.

You don’t need to be a child to enjoy it

Bluey is for preschoolers, so it’s hardly surprising that many of the adults who rave about the show have fallen in love with it because they’ve been watching it with a toddler on their knee. But even for those of us who don’t have kids, six minutes with Bluey is as enjoyable as embarking on a romp with your favourite niece or nephew.

Consider the episode Fairies, in which the family finds themselves besieged by an invisible being who is secretly putting stickers on people’s tails and making flower rings in the garden. Who could refuse to embark on that fairy hunt? It would be practically compulsory.

Want to laugh or cry? Why not both?

The first and most important thing to know about Bluey is that it’s laugh-out-loud funny. The quirky behaviour and startling truths expressed by children are sharply observed, and their depiction in the characters of Bluey and Bingo is note-perfect. Consider the scenes in fan favourite Takeaway. Dad (voiced by the inimitable Dave McCormack, of Custard fame) is trying to deal with both kids acting up while waiting for the spring rolls to be cooked, when one of them suddenly announces that they desperately need to wee. Hilarity really does ensue.

It’s also hardly fair that a kids’ cartoon can make a grown adult weep in a public space, but I challenge you to watch, say, the Camping episode, in which Bluey makes a friend of a French-speaking puppy despite neither of them knowing the same language, and not find yourself sobbing uncontrollably into your laptop by the final scene.

A still from the Camping episode of Bluey. Photograph: ABC TV

Recognisable parenting dynamics without dumb sexism

Nagging mum, forgetful dad – while there’s undoubtedly humour to be found in caricature, it’s easy to fall into tedious stereotypes when depicting the division of labour in parenting duties. But Bluey’s mum and dad are refreshingly free of typecasting by gender. They bicker occasionally, or are tired or cranky or harried – especially when, say, trying to convince a child to pick up after themselves, or finish what they start, or sit still for just a minute please. But that doesn’t stop them diving in when their child needs them, or trying to bring optimism to their kids’ wild endeavours. OK, they’re cartoon dogs, but I also maintain they are the most realistic parents you’ll come across in kids’ TV.

It’s a reminder of the sheer joy of being a kid

When you’re a child, the membrane between real life and the realm of the imaginary is incredibly porous. Kids slide rapidly between playing pretend and taking the real world extremely seriously, and too often we lose that ability to disappear into the fantastic when we grow up. It can be hard to rediscover, but it’s impossible to watch an episode of Bluey and not feel those engines of wonder and imagination shudder back to life. We were all kids once, after all.