Celebrate Clifford with Your Favorite Canine

Clifford’s creator, Norman Bridwell, spent much of his childhood free time drawing imaginary people in imaginary scenes. He would walk to and from school making up stories, and at the end of the day, he’d illustrate them on scrap paper that his father brought home from work. Years later, after Norman completed art school, his wife, Norma, encouraged him to illustrate children’s books. In 1962, Norman showed his paintings to several publishers, but no editor was interested…except one—at Scholastic—who suggested that he write a story based on his painting of a little girl with a very big dog.

Norman took the advice to heart and immediately went to work, using his family for more inspiration. Norman named the dog character “Clifford,” and their daughter, Emily Elizabeth, became the namesake of Clifford’s fictional friend. Soon after, in 1963, Scholastic published Norman’s first book, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and it was a giant hit.

Now, more than 50 years later, the tales of Clifford and Emily Elizabeth fill family bookshelves, libraries, and classrooms, and have been translated into 13 languages. Funny, quirky, sweet, full of encouragement, and just plain fun, Clifford will indeed continue to inspire readers for many years to come.

So in celebration of how this joyful character came to be, we’re sharing a great doggy-biscuit recipe that families will love baking into all kinds of doggy shapes—big or small—to give to their favorite canines. And by reading and baking together, you just may have a new Clifford tradition. Enjoy! 

Photos by Thomas Becker