Aibu to think that caillou books are in French from France, rather than Québécois from Canada?

[MumOfOneAllAlone]

Hi everyone

This is a bit random and I hope I'm okay to post here as it has the most people responding

I bought some books to read to my daughter. I'm learning French and want to practice with her at night. They're the Caillou books, about a little boy with a bald head.

I thought they were in French, as in the French spoken in France.

Someone's just told me that they come from Canada and the French isn't the same, it's Québécois.

Aibu to be confused? Does anyone know what kind of French is used?

Link to one of the books:
https://editions-chouette.com/produit/caillou-trace-dinosaures/

Thanks in advance for any help xx

Interesting question. I was looking at them too, so would like to know the answer!

Hello, I'm French. Yes, Caillou is from Québec. His first name is actually a joke about the difference between québécois and French spoken in the hexagone; he would be called Pierre in 'French'.

My understanding of the series is it is from Canada, therefore the French used is Québécois rather than France French. So if you want to avoid confusion, I wouldn’t read the series. It isn’t like Belgian French, there are differences that trip people up.

Or maybe my French has never been good enough and my time in Montréal was just me making a pigs ear off it all haha!

I wouldn't worry, there is not a huge difference between the written dialects/languages (the main difference is the oral accent); there will be some different vocabulary particularly colloquialisms, also greetings. The grammar in a children's book will be the same.

Yes, if you watch the screen adaptation then you will hear à Québécois accent and pronunciation !

The books will be absolutely fine for your daughter. The differences are more in accent and spoken French, with a few vocabulary differences too.

You would presumably read British and American books to a child learning English? This is the same thing.

I've also just had a look at the pages from the book you linked to, and can definitely say that they will be fine! That is standard French.

Hey everyone - thank you! I was so excited I'd found the books I didn't even think!

Ok, I'll try reading them to her - she won't be bothered anyway and I need the practice! Thank you @renthead for taking a look and clarifying 🥰

If any of you know any French books from France, of the same reading level, please do recommend some to me! xx

I had no idea lol, thank you

Les petites histoires du Père Castor are very cute.

However Caillou is fine to read to learn French.

How about P'tit Loup. Very French:

www.little-linguist.co.uk/ptit-loup-est-le-roi-de-la-galette.html

Or T'Choupi. These books have QR codes so you can scan on your phone and listen to the story being read by French speakers, really good if you're learning the language too:

www.little-linguist.co.uk/tchoupi-rentre-a-l-ecole.html

Not French origin, but published in France and uses French French - Peppa Pig stories are nice and simple:

www.little-linguist.co.uk/peppa-pig-peppa-va-au-zoo.html

Omg thank you, this is so helpful

Plus, I didn't know about this little linguist website! On payday, I'll order some peppa pig ones to keep her interested as she loves peppa, as well as t'choupi for the audio

xx

Thank you, I've added them to the list for payday 😊 xx

Ptit loup looks good, I love the idea of some French culture stuff as well

The Pomme d'api magazines are also very good, if you can get hold of them www.pommedapi.com/