|
 Who
is Caillou? He's a four-year-old boy who preschoolers can't help but love.
He is
curious, fun, and loves to learn—and he faces all sorts of
everyday dilemmas that preschoolers can easily identify with, in
spite of the fact that he, and his world, are animated!
Parents often wonder why Caillou
is bald, yet I
haven't heard even one child ask why he doesn't have hair. The
likely reason is that his character started out as a baby and young
toddler, and although his character evolved into a preschooler,
his image was already well-established and familiar so that the
bald head remained.
Caillou first debuted in books in
1987—in French. Les editions Chouette, a publishing
company located in Montreal, created and published the series with
a team of authors, illustrators, and psychologists. Approximately
a decade after the first Caillou book appeared in print, Cinar
created animated shorts based on the popular book series. Canadian
children (particularly those residing in Quebec) enjoyed the
cartoon for some years before PBS picked up the series.
Caillou stories closely mirror
the real-world challenges and triumphs of early childhood. The
emphasis is not only on discovery, but on conflict resolution. In
fact, parents can learn a thing or two from Caillou's parents,
with their gentle (yet realistic) guidance. Unlike most young
child characters in the media, Caillou is given to whining and
fussing at least once or twice per episode. The idea behind this
behavior is not to encourage it, but to reflect the real-life
conflicts of young children, which acts simultaneously to
sensitize parents to the trials of childhood and to encourage kids
to identify with the character.
New Caillou Movie
 Caillou's Holiday Movie,
released in the final quarter of 2004, is Caillou's first
full-length movie, and it's a real treat. An advent calendar
generates anticipation for Christmas, and Caillou takes part in
many winter activities as he gets ready for the holidays. The
movie explores and introduces children to holiday traditions in
different cultures as well. The DVD edition is well worth
purchasing, not only because of its extras in the form of an
animated interview with Caillou and two multi-level games, but
because it can be viewed in English, French, and Spanish. The
multilingual feature is of particular interest to families who
want to encourage second-language acquisition at an early age.
Highly recommended. Our Rating: A
[For more information, user
reviews, or to buy: Caillou's Holiday Movie
(DVD) or Caillou's Holiday Movie
(VHS)]
A Look at Caillou Software
Games
 Caillou Magic Playhouse,
Caillou - Birthday Party, and
Caillou Four Seasons of Fun
all
feature a similar format, and are unlikely to
disappoint little fans.
Happily,
these titles will please both parents and children. They play much
like all-purpose preschool and Kindergarten titles--they cover a
number of early learning skills like pre-reading and pre-math in
their 8 activities each. For example, in Caillou's Magic
Playhouse, players start out by exploring the rooms of
Caillou's  home, searching for 6 pieces of (easy-to-find)
"treasure". As they click around each room, they uncover
animated surprises and activities. Each game opens with a related
animation from the show and an instruction screen, and, once
complete, children are rewarded with a video from the puppet
segment of the television show. Many
of the activities are multi-level, and include such things as
repeating patterns on a xylophone, catching butterflies, creating
silly stories, and sorting socks with different designs and
colors.
 These programs
are well done for the
most part. The video clips are short and interesting, the
activities are valuable and entertaining, and the design of the
programs works rather well. Congratulations and instructions are
sometimes excessive, however.
We tend to prefer the Caillou Birthday
Party, but the differences between the programs are minor.
Since the release of the above
titles, Brighter Child Interactive has rearranged their activities
to create the following titles. Note that these titles can be
played in English, French, and Spanish (all languages are
contained on one CD-ROM), and include workbooks or flashcards.
 Caillou Thinking Skills CD/Workbook Combo
focuses on skills including ordering and sorting, pattern
extension, making predictions, identifying associations, logical
thinking, and memory—all crucial cross-curricular skills.
Play the activities with audio in English, Spanish, or French. A
color workbook is included for learning away from the computer. This is a preschool-level CD-ROM.
 Caillou Colors & Shapes CD/Workbook Combo
focuses on activities designed to encourage children to identify
colors and shapes, and involves sorting and thinking skills. The activities
can be played with audio in English, Spanish, or French. A
color workbook is included for learning away from the computer. This is a preschool-level CD-ROM.
 Caillou Preschool
includes activities featured in Caillou Alphabet, Caillou Colors
& Shapes (above), and some of the activities in Caillou
Coloring & Creativity. The activities
can be played with audio in English, Spanish, or French. Flash
cards are included to enhance learning away from the computer.
See our full
review of Caillou Preschool.
 Caillou Kindergarten
includes activities featured in Caillou Counting, Caillou Thinking
Skills, and some of the activities in Caillou Coloring. The activities
can be played with audio in English, Spanish, or French. Flash
cards are included to enhance learning away from the computer. The
opening menu introduces the title as Caillou Preschool, although
the content is definitely Caillou Kindergarten. This is an unusual
oversight, although it doesn't truly interfere with gameplay. If you can look past it, you might find the program
quite educational and its multi-lingual component original and
valuable. Some parents may "forgive" the
sloppiness in final editing for these reasons.
Caillou Links
Visit Chouette
Publishing, the book series publisher.
Visit PBS
Kids: Caillou for information and online activities.
Visit Cinar's
Official Caillou site.
Caillou Merchandise
Caillou Books
An unbelievable number of Caillou
books are available—one for practically every childhood
situation, event, and dilemma!
Caillou DVDs
Caillou Videos
Caillou Software
|
