Clifford's Bedtime

Clifford the small red puppy exasperates his mother by thinking of many ways to postpone bedtime

Clifford the small red puppy exasperates his mother by thinking of many ways to postpone bedtime.

There''s no denying that kids love Clifford®. The Big Red Dog® has been a favorite since Norman Bridwell created him over 40 years ago. "I was working as a commercial artist in New York City. There wasn''t much work, so I made some sample pictures and took them to several publishers. They all rejected my work. But one editor suggested that I try writing a book of my own to illustrate. I had done a painting of a little girl with a big red dog. That seemed like a funny idea, so I made up a story about them. I increased the dog''s size from as big as a horse to as big as a house. My wife named the dog Clifford, and we named the little girl Emily Elizabeth after our daughter. In three days I had written the story and drawn the pictures for Clifford The Big Red Dog. When Scholastic called and said they wanted the book, I was stunned." Bridwell, who grew up in Kokomo, Indiana, lives now on Martha''s Vineyard, Massachusetts, with his wife, Norma. For more information about Norman Bridwell, visit: scholastic.com/tradebooks