Caillou

Things that go bump in the night, and others that light up the sky, are on everyone's mind today. A family corn roast dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's under the star-studded sky prompts Grandpa to bring out his telescope and introduce Caillou to the constellations, planets, and moon. Grandpa discovers a new planetarium is opening and there's a prize for the best space costume. Caillou is thrilled when the winner turns out to be...a surprise! But fun turns to fear at bedtime when Caillou decides that a monster is lurking in his room. All's well when Mom and Dad unmask Caillou's monster as a tree branch on the window! Then, during a winter storm, the lights go out and Caillou is very afraid. Dad builds a fire in the fireplace and the family pretends they’re camping. They even toast marshmallows!

A day of new discoveries! Caillou loses his voice, finds a frog in his throat, and finds other neat ways to communicate, until the frog goes away. Later on, Caillou is missing one of his favorite socks. He searches the house, and accidentally locks himself in the basement. Daddy comes to the rescue - only he locks himself in the basement too. All is well when Mommy saves them both and finds the missing sock. Then, Caillou, Rosie and Julie, their babysitter, go on a scavenger hunt.

Caillou's clowning around today and having a wonderful time. Seeing Bravo the magician at a friend's birthday party inspires Caillou to become Caillou the Great and put on a magic show of his own. He plays the clown for a wary Rosie, who's afraid of clowns until Caillou shows her they're just people wearing silly costumes. Then, Caillou gets to go to a parade; has another pretend parade with Dad; and even makes puppet clowns with Grandma. Caillou is very excited when the family takes a trip across country by train.

Everyone's lending a helping hand today. Caillou plans a surprise birthday party for Grandpa with Grandma's help. He and Grandma get everything ready, and Grandpa is very surprised and very happy. Caillou really likes to play with Leo's pet hamster and would love to have one of his own. He doesn't realize how much hard work having a hamster can be until he offers to look after Leo's pet while Leo and his parents are out of town. He soon realizes it's not all fun and games - especially with Gilbert around! Mom is upset when the mailman only brings bills, bills and more bills. Caillou and Dad decide to make a nice letter for her and they give it to the mailman to deliver. Mom is thrilled to get such a nice letter from Caillou. On another day, Caillou is really looking forward to a special day with Dad, but Dad gets a bad cold and has to stay home. Caillou is pretty disappointed at first, but then with some help from Mom, Dr. Caillou looks after patient Dad.

Today Caillou learns that being a part of a family is something very special. Dad lends Caillou his old camera and helps him take pictures of every member of their family - including Gilbert. Looking at the photo album, the family remembers when Gilbert was a kitten and first came to live with them. When Mommy and Rosie go out for the day, Daddy and Caillou have plans of their own. They are building a surprise for Mommy that requires a lot of father-and-son work. When Caillou and his family go to the zoo, Caillou is thrilled to see that animals have families too. Also, Caillou and his family go away for a weekend of camping in the woods.

Wintertime brings lots of new experiences. Sarah teaches Caillou to build a snowman, Dad helps him stay upright on his ice skates (and picks him up when he falls down), and Mom shows Caillou the fine points of downhill skiing, including how not to be afraid of the ski lift. When Caillou and Dad get to the vendor too late to buy a good Christmas tree, they decorate one in the yard instead. All the beautiful colored lights chase away the winter gloom. Also, Caillou learns about the Chinese New Year. He even tries some Chinese delicacies, but most exciting of all, he gets to see the famous dragon dance!

Things get a little scary today. Caillou and his new neighbours, Jason and Jeffery, are playing hide and go seek in the backyard, until dusk brings out the shadows. A flashlight and Mommy help chase the shadows away. That evening, Caillou can't fall asleep when he hears scary "scratchy monster" noises and thinks there's a monster in his room. Daddy shows him that a tree branch brushing against the window is making the noises and the only monster in Caillou's room is Gilbert. Later, a bad dream about a scary monster leads to a restless night for Caillou. Mommy and Daddy help him learn to fall asleep safely in his own bed. And, finally, when Caillou sleeps over at Leo's house for the first time, he has fun until it's time to go to sleep. A phone call to Mommy reminds Caillou that Teddy was looking forward to spending the night. Together they rest easily.

Today, Caillou discovers something inside him that makes ordinary things fun: imagination! Unable to fly his kite on a windless day, Caillou stares at the clouds and finds they're really wagons, balloons and dinosaurs, if you look at them just right. When rain grounds his kite another day, Caillou and Dad turn the living room into a pirate ship. Just like his Daddy, Caillou loves anything to do with cars, so he’s very happy when Dad asks him to help wash the family car. And while he sits in the car, he imagines he’s driving a car to the beach. It's also fun playing with his friend George, who no one can see but Caillou. Later, Caillou, Rosie and Julie the baby-sitter travel to all sorts of pretend far away places. Among them are the desert with its camel and oasis, the big mountain they climb and finally the river and waterfalls in the steamy tropical forest.

Writing and reading are the focus today. Caillou is all excited to read the weekend paper with Daddy, but the wind and a very mischievous cat delay his reading time. With a little patience and persistence, Caillou finally gets to enjoy his favorite comic strip. Later, when Mommy is upset because the mailman only brings bills, bills, and more bills, she tells Caillou that it would be great to get a nice letter for a change. Caillou and Daddy decide to write Mommy a really nice letter, and the next morning they give it to the mail carrier to deliver. Mommy is thrilled! On another day, Sarah invites Caillou to a little brother or sister day at school. The school is big and Caillou is a little afraid. But with Sarah’s help Caillou has a lot of fun.

Caillou's learning to do new things, and discovering it's okay to have help while he learns. To prove he's ready to help Dad paint the porch, Caillou paints Rosie's dollhouse first - and Gilbert, with paint-dipped paws, does some painting too! Caillou moves from renovation to recreation when Dad and Sarah teach him to play baseball; Dad teaches him to swim; and Clementine goads him into going down the big kids' slide. Mom shows Caillou how to tie his shoes but he get frustrated and stops trying. With courage and practice, he's soon able to do these things on his own.