Caillou: I Can Do It Myself!

by Christine L’Heureux

When my first child was young, we watched a lot of PBS and there is this show, Caillou that surrounds a family and a little boy, Caillou. In parent circles, it is widely known that we all can’t stand Caillou. I stopped playing the show in our house, and he was basically never to be heard from again, for us.

To be quick, he’s a whiny, tantrum-throwing child, and I’ve already got that in my house, why do I need to watch it on TV too?

So, my daughter was scrolling through my NetGalley feed and saw this book, Caillou, and was like, “That’s the one.” And I was literally like, “No.” then kept scrolling. She then turned into a bit of a whiner herself, like I said, I already have my own version of Caillou, I don’t need more. Then, I thought, it’s just a book, and I downloaded it.

I feel ashamed now, looking back at this. It’s a book and it’s for children. I should have downloaded it right away, but getting past that. This is a lovely story where Caillou acts quite appropriately. Working hard to do things himself and his dad helps him along the way. It’s a moment to be proud of Caillou and then, as a parent, you think about your child’s moments to be proud of and smile.

So, here’s what I am taking away from this rather pleasant experience with Caillou.

• The book is always better than the “movie”. I know this, don’t ever judge a book by its movie. And yet, I did just that.
• Next time I’ll do better. I’m definitely not going to be that quick to judge a book again. Not just with children’s books.

My Question to You:

Have you ever judged a book by it’s TV show or movie?

Footnotes:

#caillou #shejustlovesbooks #shejustlovesbooksforkids #bookblogger #booksareawesome