‘CAILLOU’ coming to Glendale

Alecia Foster

GLENDALE GALLERIA -- “CAILLOU” has come a long way.

“It was completely unknown in the U.S.,” said Stephanie Brody,

communications manager for CINAR Corp., which produces the program.

“People had problems just saying the name.”

Four years later, the popularity of the Canadian cartoon and main

character of the same name, pronounced Kay-you, has grown in the United

States thanks to a revamped version of the show now on PBS.

“CAILLOU,” the preschool-aged cartoon boy in the series, will make his

first official story time appearance in the country Saturday at FAO

Schwarz in the Glendale Galleria.

Marie Hidalgo, Schwarz’s store manager, said the event will kick off a

line of “CAILLOU” products the store will carry.

Besides sitting in on story time, children will have the opportunity

to take pictures with the character Caillou, create their own works of

art at a stamp station and have the chance to win a “CAILLOU” birthday

party, Hidalgo said.

The show “CAILLOU” is based on a series of books, which chronicles the

everyday life of the fictional little boy.

The program, which is geared toward preschool-aged children, has made

it into the top five most watched shows in the countryamong that age

group, Brody said.

“That’s a hard nut to crack these days,” she said of the preschool

audience.

“Story time with CAILLOU” will begin at 1 p.m. Readings will be at 1,

3 and 5 p.m.

For more information, call 547-5900.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Story time with CAILLOU.”

WHEN: 1, 3 and 5 p.m. Saturday.

WHERE: FAO Schwarz, Glendale Galleria, 2148 Glendale Galleria.

FOR MORE INFO: 547-5900.