Annette: The year I entered kindergarten, author/illustrator Norman Bridwell created a character who has now appeared in eighty books. He is Clifford the big red dog, one of the gentlest characters in all of children’s literature. I read Clifford books when I was a child. And now I read them to my kids. As Bridwell says, “He’s like Mr. Rogers with fur.” Now with his own TV series and more than eight-five million books in print, Clifford maybe the world’s most famous dog.
Emily Elizabeth: Hi, my name’s Emily Elizabeth. And this is Clifford.
Norman Bridwell: He’s big. He’s gentle. He’s always trying to be helpful. He’s a lovable dog and well-meaning, but clumsy. And I think children appreciate this. If there’s one message that winds up in most of the books, it’s to try. And if things go wrong, don’t give up. Go back and try again. Clifford does that all the time. He’s constantly making mistakes or knocking things over. But it doesn’t keep him from trying.
Dog: Shimmer me timber and ahoy maties.
Norman: When I sit down to do a book, I usually get the idea in my mind, the general plot. And then I start thinking what can happen. And I go through and I do the drawings first. I do very quick, very rough pencil drawings. And I take those very rough pencil drawings and I slip them under a sheet of white drawing paper that I can see through. And I take a black ballpoint pen and I do a very careful ink drawing. I change things as I’m going along. I’ll shift things around or make his head rounder or his paws bigger. And I do an ink drawing for every page of the book.
[music]
Norman: I’ve always been amazed by the number of letters that I get from parents and from teachers and from children when they’re a little older saying that that Clifford book was the first book they ever read. Teachers use the books to get the children started. Because I guess they’re fun. And parents often say, “Well, that’s the first book that my child could read.” I guess because they’re simple and they’re amusing.
Norman: (reading) Hi, I’m Emily Elizabeth. And this is Clifford, my big red dog. Yesterday, my friend Marsha said I got my dog from a fancy pet store. Where did you get yours? So I told her how I got Clifford.
Norman: I feel very fortunate to have this part in teaching children to read. Something I didn’t plan. But it’s worked out that way.
Norman: (reading) So I said to Martha that’s how I got my dog. Tell me again how you got your dog. Marsha said forget it.
