Caillou

Caillou books have been published by Chouette Publishing Inc. since 1989.

As Caillou appeared as a much younger child in the original line of children's books, he originally had no hair.

When illustrators found that adding hair made him look unrecognizable, it was decided that the character would be bald.

Chouette Publishing defended the decision to make the character bald: "Caillou's baldness may make him different, but we hope it helps children understand that being different isn't just okay, it's normal." According to the series' official website, the show's target audience was apparently largely unfazed by the character's baldness: "The fact that he is bald does not seem to bother preschoolers in the least.

Not only do they never mention it, but when asked to think about why Caillou has no hair, our focus groups just laughed and replied: 'He just doesn't have any hair!

This decision to keep the character bald in the series led to an urban legend/internet meme that suggests the title character has cancer or pediatric alopecia, and claims to explain why his parents supposedly allow him to throw tantrums with impunity.