Clifford Takes a Trip

Clifford the Big Red Dog

by Norman Bridwell

Emily Elizabeth's family is going on vacation! But wait, what about Clifford?

Summer vacation means one thing—more time for Emily Elizabeth to play with Clifford! Until this summer, that is. The family is going far away, so far that Clifford can't come. Or can he? Everyone's favorite big red dog gets a bit lonely when his family goes on vacation without him. But fear not! Clifford overcomes wet cement, traffic jams, and toll bridges to rejoin them in the mountains.

Follow along as Clifford sniffs, swims, and tiptoes to find his best friend—just in the nick of time!

Meet Clifford and Emily Elizabeth in an original Clifford book!
Clifford is big. Clifford is red. But most of all, Clifford knows how to be a good friend! In 1963, Norman Bridwell published his very first 'Clifford' book, and kids have loved him ever since. He's an adorable dog whose well-meaning bumbling's have great kid-appeal. Clifford is Emily Elizabeth's and everyone's, favorite big red dog!

Age Rating: 1–6+ / Preschool - Kindergarten+ / Lexile AD180L

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Dogs, Summer, Transport

38 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Norman Bridwell was an American author and cartoonist, best-known for the Clifford the Big Red Dog series of children's books. Bridwell attended John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. He lived on Martha's Vineyard, MA, where he wrote an average of two books a year.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Emily Elizabeth and her parents leave Clifford with a neighbor as they take a summer vacation camping trip, but Clifford isn't having it. He runs away to find Emily Elizabeth, leaving chaos in his wake as he travels down the highways and byways. A dramatic ending that depends on dumb coincidence just falls flat for me.

[Adamsfall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the part with Clifford in it

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/27/2025 - Cute story. But if we read it again, I’d probably explain to my daughter that we don’t run away and definitely don’t play with baby bears.

4/13/2025 - Read again with Madison.

4/16/2025 - Read again with Madi.

[Angieleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

My parents bought this for my nephew for Christmas. I have always loved Clifford and am delighted my nephew enjoyed reading about Clifford's trip to find his family on vacation!

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023

2022

2021
Gift from Harper's grandmother

Clifford finds a way to go on vacation with his family

[L.C. Tang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books! I was babysitting some kids, and it was story time. So I read all these stories and then showed the animated videos to the children. All these stories have a great lesson with each adventure with Emily Elizabeth and Clifford.

[Ashton Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

*SPOILER*

This book was good, it got kinda scary near the end but my dog was happy to hear that everything turned out okay!

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's kind of interesting to see parts that I'm not sure would be included today, like Emily Elizabeth literally being lifted into the air by a bear.

[Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are huge Clifford fans in our home. I remember first falling in love with this fantastic big red dog when I was in second, and I absolutely love that Scholastic continues to introduce young readers to Clifford.

Clifford isn't one to be left behind, and when Emily Elizabeth and her family head out for a weekend camping trip, Clifford is heartbroken. He quickly finds himself making his way to Emily Elizabeth. Along the way Clifford ends up helping people who need it, including Emily. This is a delightful read and one my kids enjoyed just as much as I did.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clifford Takes a Trip is the tale of how Clifford found his family when they went on vacation without him. He helped a man on the way and didn't let a difficult trip stop him from finding his family and then saved the day and made new friends. All of these are good lessons to bring into a discussion about the story to the children after reading the book to them, making it a good learning experience.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Emily Elizabeth should know better than to play with bear cubs while she's camping, that's sure to make the mama bear angry. The part I really thought was strange though was that the mama bear suddenly turns nice because Clifford gives her babies back to her. Confusing, is the lesson to stay away from bears in the woods or to befriend them?

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 'classic' Clifford story. One of which I remember reading when I was a small child, loving it then and enjoying it now with my children and granddaughter.

Clifford is lonely when his family goes on a vacation camping. So he sets out looking for them. His adventures along the way and arriving in time to help Emily Elizabeth.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I read another one of the cute kohl's cares books while it was slow at the register! this was was adorable! and I liked it more than the beach ball one! and it reminded me even more of my childhood, when I would watch and read clifford books! a great story! and such a fun book for kids! I hope one day that when I get married and have kids they will like clifford too!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be a fabulous summer vacation book. The family goes on vacation and Cliffords tries to track them down, while going on his own andverntures. It would get students talking abot what they're doing for summer vacation.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember my mom reading Clifford books to me when I was small. It's a delight to read them with my grandson. In this one, Clifford gets left behind when the family takes a trip. But Clifford decides to catch up with them.

[Jenn Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clifford's family decide to go on vacation and leave him with the neighbor. However, he is not having that and sets out to find his family. The story was entertaining and my daughter enjoyed it as well. Would recommend.

[Terri Zumbahlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good book for early readers. The text is appropriate for early readers with pictures that help tell what is happening in the story. Children will find the story engaging and easy to comprehend.

[BookCupid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the images on this one.

[juan turrubiartes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fnghfnfjfh

[Danielle Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

[Melissa C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daughter loves Clifford.

[Brianna N]

Summary: Clifford's family is going on a trip and he wants to go but he is to big to travel with the family. The family leaves him with neighbors. Then he decides he is going to find a way to go on the trip. He ends up walking there and meeting the family. When he meets the family they are surprised that he ended up coming but on the way to getting there he makes a lot of messes along the way. People were not very happy with him along the way.

Analysis: I really liked the story. I also thought that the illustrations were very cute. Clifford made a lot of messes but people weren't mad in the end. This could be used in a classroom.

Use in a classroom: This could be used to show how children need to clean up their messes. They also can learn that not everything is easy. People have a lot of hard times in life.

[Leyles Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Clifford Takes a Trip, Norman Bridwell offers another adventure featuring everyone’s favorite giant red dog, this time driven by separation anxiety. When Emily Elizabeth and her family leave for a camping trip, Clifford can’t bear to be apart and sets off to find them, leaving a trail of chaos and accidental heroism behind.

The story retains Bridwell’s charm and humor, though its dramatic ending — hinging on a rather clumsy coincidence — feels flat. It’s also interesting to see moments that would likely be edited out of a modern children’s book, like Emily Elizabeth being hoisted into the air by a bear. The episode with the bear family, while meant to show Clifford’s kindness, borders on the absurd: the mother bear’s sudden change of heart strains believability even in a fantasy about a dog the size of a house.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading novels to my children, especially when they are ones that promote more reading to my kids, because they relate to something that they already know and enjoy- like a popular kid's TV show. However, I have found that the older my son gets, the more he's beginning to realize when they just don't make since.

The ending in each of these Clifford stories were abrupt and sudden, and some of the things that Emily E. and Clifford were doing just didn't make since (like playing with bear cub?). When my five year-old and point out to me that that was dangerous, I know that something just doesn't add up the way I expected it too. I love the show, they are thought out and well done; however, I felt like a few pages had been taken out each of the stories so they were all incomplete.

[Cory B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen, I'm never going to meet my reading challenge until I retire. Ok? I can't read a little over eight books a month. It's not going to happen. So I'm going to log the random books I read with my two year old occasionally. I tell you what, if I logged everytime I've read "Goodnight, Gorilla", I would hit that challenge so goshdang hard!

Anywho, the reason I'm logging this one is because I appreciate the simplicity of the art style. I wanted to commend Bridwell for it. It's simple, but it feels clever. I respect it.
FIVE STARS

[Paige]

Emily Elizabeth ia going to her last day of school and is talkign about a summer trip her and her family is going on. Unfortunately, they can not take Clifford, he is just too big for travel. The neighbors are going to watch him while they are away. When Emily and her family left, Clifford got very lonely. He eventually went seraching for Emily, going through all sorts of crazy adventures on his way such as a bear. Clifford got to stay at the camp once he got there.

[Paige Hickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Contemporary Realistic
Grade Level: PreK - K

The Clifford series are great books for young children! The author did a great job making the illustrations and storyline very interesting. The book is so cute and has real world life lessons that can be applied to readers. Most children love dogs which makes this book even more appealing. I highly recommend this book and the Clifford book series!

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing can stop Clifford on his quest to find Emily Elizabeth and her family, who left him to go on a summer vacation. Emily plays with bear cubs and is nearly eaten by the mother bear, but she totally plays it off like it’s no big deal.
Like most of the Clifford books I don’t think there’s anything fantastic here story wise, but my kids enjoy the character so we read them for that.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clifford is much too big to fit into a car to go on a trip, but he doesn't like that he's left behind when his favorite girl goes on vacation and tracks them down and ends up saving her life. Now, they won't leave Clifford behind when they go away.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lonely when his family goes on vacation without him, Clifford, a giant red dog, overcomes wet cement, traffic jams, and toll bridges to rejoin them in the mountains.

Classic Clifford!