Caillou (character)

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For the full list of characters in the show, see List of Caillou characters.

Caillou
Caillou character
Caillou
First appearance	Caillou Makes Cookies (October 2, 1997)
Created by	Christine L'Heureux Hélène Desputeaux
Voiced by	Bryn McAuley (1997-2000) Jaclyn Linetsky (2000-2003) Annie Bovaird (2003-2013)
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Playgroup student
Relatives	Parents: Mommy/Emily and Daddy/Marlin Sibling: Mousseline/Rosie Grandparents: Grandma and Grandpa (first names unknown)

Caillou (translated pebble or stone in French and nicknamed The Prince of Imagination) is the main fictional character in the Canadian animated television series Caillou. Caillou was first voiced by Bryn McAuley from 1997 through 2000, then Jaclyn Linetsky in 2000 through 2003, and then, due to Jaclyn Linetsky's death, Annie Bovaird from 2003 through 2013. Caillou was first shown in the episode "Caillou Makes Cookies", which aired in 1997. The DVDs with puppets and Jaclyn Linetsky were compilations from 2003 through 2006, and one of them are in memory of Jaclyn herself. The new DVDs from 2006 through 2010, were from Paramount Home Entertainment.

Caillou's name comes from the French word Caillou, meaning pebble, and from a ritual created by Dr. Françoise Dolto (1908–1988). Reflecting her philosophy of respect for the child as a person, she asked children to give her pebbles as a symbolic payment for her consultations, thus giving children complete freedom of choice regarding their treatment.^[1]

Role

Caillou is an average, imaginative four-year-old boy with a love for forms of transportive machinery such as rocket ships and airplanes. A dreamer, Caillou is prone to frequent dream sequences in some episodes visualizing his daydreams and hopes, and many episodes chronicle his normal daily experiences with his parents, friends, and neighbors. Caillou particularly loves his stuffed dinosaur Rexy and teddy bear Teddy, along with his pet cat Gilbert, all of whom are depicted as puppets in segments featured in the earlier episodes.

History

Caillou as a baby.

The character was created in 1990 as a nine-month-old baby without a hair on his head. He owes his popularity to the combined talents of author and publisher Christine L'Heureux and illustrator Hélène Desputeaux. From the very first Caillou book, Christine L'Heureux's goal was to help children develop their own unique personalities while learning to live in harmony with the world around them. She wanted to create a human figure for children's books, a departure from the common practice of using animals as the main characters in books for babies and young children.^[1] The theory was that by making Caillou human, children could more easily identify with Caillou because they are so much like him. As a result, they feel close to him and can better see themselves in each Caillou story.^[1]

Caillou's name comes from the French word caillou, meaning pebble, and from a ritual created by Dr. Françoise Dolto. Reflecting her philosophy of respect for the child as a person, she asked children to give her pebbles as a symbolic payment for her consultations, thus giving children complete freedom of choice regarding their treatment.^[1]

Because they believed that it was important for babies to play with books, they created “Baby Caillou”. This imprint had a new logo and was characterized by a soothing pastel palette, setting this collection apart from the primary colors for which their other books are so well known. The baby Caillou titles are currently only available in Canada.^[2] In the first season of the show, Caillou was only 4 years old (3, shortly) and wore a gray shirt. He first appeared in the show as a 3-year-old in the first episode "Caillou Makes Cookies". He later wore a yellow shirt in the more recent seasons of the show, since season 2.

References

v t e PBS Kids shows

Current shows	Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! Curious George Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Dinosaur Train Franny's Feet Martha Speaks Peg + Cat Sesame Street Super Why! Sid the Science Kid Thomas & Friends Wild Animal Baby Explorers

Former shows	3-2-1 Contact The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon Angelina Ballerina Animalia Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series Barney & Friends The Berenstain Bears Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures Between the Lions Bill Nye the Science Guy Boohbah Caillou The Charlie Horse Music Pizza Corduroy Clifford's Puppy Days Clifford the Big Red Dog Cyberchase Design Squad The Dooley and Pals Show DragonflyTV Dragon Tales Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman George Shrinks Gerbert Ghostwriter Groundling Marsh The Huggabug Club In the Mix It's a Big Big World Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks Jay Jay the Jet Plane Katie and Orbie Kidsongs Kratts' Creatures Lamb Chop's Play-Along Lomax, the Hound of Music The Magic School Bus Make Way for Noddy Maya & Miguel Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Newton's Apple Noddy PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch Peep and the Big Wide World Pocoyo Postcards from Buster Powerhouse The Puzzle Place Reading Rainbow Redwall The Saddle Club Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat SeeMore's Playhouse Seven Little Monsters Shining Time Station Signing Time! Square One Television Kino's Storytime Teletubbies Theodore Tugboat Timothy Goes to School Toopy and Binoo Tots TV Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? Wimzie's House Wishbone WordWorld Zoboomafoo Zoobilee Zoo Zoom

PBS Kids Go!	Arthur Cyberchase The Electric Company (2009–) Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman SciGirls WordGirl Wild Kratts

See also	PBS network shows Educational television

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Caillou (character)

Role

History

References

External links