Where does the name Caillou come from?

Christine L’Heureux named her Caillou character to honour the research done by psychologist Françoise Dolto. The word “caillou” means pebble in French, which was used in a practice done by Dr. Françoise Dolto. Reflecting her philosophy of respect for the child as a person, she asked children to give her pebbles as a symbolic payment for her consultations.

The appropriateness of the name was confirmed by an incident that took place at the very beginning of the project. Christine knew she had made the right choice when when she heard a neighbour calling her child, “Kayou, time to come in.”