Caillou

"Caillou" is one of only two PBS for Kids programs who's appeal is totally lost on me...and my children don't like it either. Part of it is the vocal characterization of Caillou-who's whiney little voice is like nails on a chalkboard. Couple this with insipid dialogue and sickly-sweet plotlines and you've got a show that, despite it's intent, few kids will want to sit through, let alone learn from.

While my 3-year-old seems to enjoy this show, I think it may be very bad for him to watch.

Among the many problems I have is the child character's constant bad behavior, mostly his complete lack of manners, I have yet to hear a Thank you or please (often it is "I want").. this could be a cultural difference with the French.

The episode in which he gets scared of monsters at night, rather than helping my son; inspired him to become scared of monsters (he never thought of monsters being in his room until he saw this show).

I often see many safety issues brought up in the show, in one episode Daddy leave a newborn baby (Rossie) unattended on a change table.

The "world view" of the show is too politically correct and homogeneous to the point of encouraging conformity in children. In fact I find the nonwhite characters to be portrayed ina very disturping way, bordering on racism... the Chinese family eats only Chinese food, visits China on vacation, has a house decorated in Chinese decor.. in fact every part of their life we see is completely enshrined in Chinese culture; as if they have no identity other than being Chinese. In another episode a Mexican family has a birthday party, and of course it is a fiesta! I hate children's shows that only define multicultural people/families by their race/nationality as if that's ALL that defines them; it is an ignorant view of our world.

Caillou is the worst children's show ever. He is such a bratty kid and that picks up other kids to his behavior. Spongebob is 10000% better than Caillou!

At first, I thought Caillou was great. While I prepared dinner, it kept my daughter occupied. My suggestion to all parents, give them something else to do! My daughter, who is now 2 1/2, has watched Caillou since she was about one. Now, she has been imitating his poor behavior! i could not figure it out! The two girls she plays with are very well behaved. And finally, one day after her swimming lesson, I allowed her to watch him as I prepared lunch. During the episode, Caillou's parents were having a dinner party. Caillou and his sister were to go to bed (as Caillou's parents hired a babysitter to do this! UNBELIEVABLE!) Not sure about the rest of you, but my husband and I do not hire a sitter, when it's time for our child to go to bed! Caillou carried on screaming with his annoying whine, "I don't want to!" Guess what-my daughter will not stop saying "I don't want to!" Well that is the end of that! Caillou is no longer allowed in our home! When my daughter asks, I keep telling her that Caillou is a very bad boy, and she is no longer allowed to watch him! SHAME ON YOU PBS! With such wonderful educational shows created in the past, I would have never dreamed to have to monitor your shows! I was wrong! SEX AND THE CITY teaches better manners!

As a 45 year-old parent of a 4 year-old daughter I must say I have to agree with some other reviewers here - this show is terrible. I guess the developers of this show fail to understand that 4 year-olds will see Caillou as a role model and they do not get the character arc. So when Caillou is being whiny or ungrateful and he learns how to behave in the last few minutes of the show, what kids remember is the whininess, not the lesson.

Caillou is a horrible show that teaches kids how not to behave. My daughter actually started to behave much worse after being exposed to this show than she did before seeing it. At one point she even copied Caillou's style of tantrum - where he falls on the floor and kicks his legs while crying - on one level that was amusing but it was clear that our daughter was using the show to learn very bad behaviour. Thanks to the title lock on our DVR this show is now blocked and our daughter has once again become the sweet, well-mannered and happy 4 year-old she was before she saw Caillou.