Clifford Barks!

Clifford the Big Red Dog

by Norman Bridwell

In this rhyming story, Clifford the Small Red Puppy and Emily Elizabeth go for a walk in the park, where Clifford barks "at the birds in the trees/at the bees, at the postman,/at whomever he sees"!

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

14 pages, Board Book

First published March 1, 1996

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

[Mavis’s Dad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clifford is not a big red dog yet… he’s a smaller red puppy. But he sure does bark at a lot of things!

Moral: Dogs bark, but we love them anyway.

Length: This was too short. Clifford certainly could have barked for a few more pages.

Favorite Line: “Clifford barks at his dish.”

Overall impression: We speak for dogs an awful lot in our society and this book does as well. When Clifford barks at the phone, the cat, or the postman, I’m not convinced it’s because he likes them, despite the author maintaining that’s the case. His people should most certainly be training him NOT to bark, but I don’t see that in the photos. They just smile as if to say “How cute.” I don’t think I’d want to live very close to Clifford with all that noise he must create in a day.

Spoiler alert: Clifford grows up to be quite an ornery dog in the books. I think this prequel of sorts does a nice job showing us why - poor handling by his people.

[Ryan Cutler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute rhyming book with everyone's favorite small red puppy. This is a good book for the youngest readers, who can point out the things Clifford barks at as they look at the simple pictures.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clifford barks at everything. So does my dog. This book tracks.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittedly, I'm a sucker for "baby Clifford," so I was able to overlook the rhyming. Trim size is perfect for toddler readers.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clifford barks at everything and everyone he sees.

[Atlas Erlandson · Rating 5 out of 5]

🔥🔥🔥

[TFE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved Clifford barking

[Mattie Maloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always loved Clifford the big red dog show on television when I was a kid. It was fun to read this and go down memory lane. This book is easy to predict, making it easy for a child to follow along with u and work on their reading skills.

[Danielle Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

[Taylor Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

She asks for this one by name. She likes identifying all the ancillary objects and all the moving people. I can't stand it. 5 stars from Taylor. 1 Star from Mom.