Getting to the heart of ‘Caillou’ and ‘Clifford’

As adults finish wrapping gifts for that special someone and youngsters pack up colorful holiday cards for classmates today, the preschool set can kick off Valentine’s Day before lunchtime with a pair of half-hour animated specials on KCET. “Clifford the Red Dog,” starring the T. rex-sized canine voiced by John Ritter, opens the day at 9 a.m., with “Caillou,” featuring the 4-year-old Charlie Brown look-alike, airing at 10 a.m.

If you’re rationing the amount of television your child watches, “Caillou” is the program of choice. There’s an easy warmth emanating from the smoothly drawn stories of how a toddler learns how to fit in with the world around him.

Today’s episode, “People I Love,” is carved into four segments that show Caillou (pronounced KI-you) interacting with his parents, grandparents, a sleepover friend, and at a neighborhood Valentine’s Day party.

About the only quibble is the vaguely annoying giggle that seems to afflict all the characters, and Caillou’s own singsongy voice, which comes off more like a middle-aged woman on helium. But the slyly educational stories and gentle lessons imparted are the real deal.

“Clifford” is divided into two segments, “Clifford’s Big Heart” and “Cleo’s Valentine Surprise.” Each is a well-meaning exercise in learning how to let people know how much they mean to you, but both grow a bit tedious despite their relative brevity.

Clifford, who has the gift of speech only with others in the animal world, has a low-watt charisma that doesn’t wear well as he ambles from one predicament to another. But for a target audience of 2-to-5-year-olds, he has proved to be top dog, and with a slew of Emmys and parents-group awards to his credit, he must be doing something right.