Clifford the Big Red Dog is an American children's book series about a giant red dog named Clifford. It was first published in 1963 and was written by Norman Bridwell. Clifford is Scholastic's official mascot.

Characters 

 Clifford: A 2-year-old male red dog whose appearance, disposition and behavior are based on a giant dog. His size is inconsistent: While he is often shown being about 25 feet (7.5 m) tall from paws to head, Clifford can appear far larger. The character's name is based on the imaginary childhood friend of creator Norman Bridwell's wife, Norma Bridwell.  Bridwell originally wanted to name the dog "Tiny", but his wife persuaded him that "Clifford" was better. Clifford's pet owner is Emily Elizabeth. Clifford has a mother, two brothers, and two sisters, all of whom are normal-sized dogs. Clifford was originally the runt of the litter, seemingly fated to be small and sick, but grew to an enormous size apparently due to Emily Elizabeth's love and care. Clifford's character was created when a Harper & Row editor advised Bridwell to write a story to go along with one of his pictures. Bridwell recalls she picked out his sketch of a baby girl with a horse-sized bloodhound, and casually said, "There might be a story in this" because there always was one.
 Emily Elizabeth: Clifford's owner and human friend, an 8-year-old girl. She is frequently portrayed riding him like a horse. She was named for creator Norman Bridwell's daughter and based on the imaginary adventures of Bridwell's wife. The TV series adaptation gives her a surname, Emily Elizabeth Howard, and changes the background, with her receiving Clifford as a surprise present on her 6th birthday instead of picking her out as a Christmas present.

List of books

Adaptations

Videos 
Karl-Lorimar Home Video released the video Clifford's Sing Along Adventure around 1986. Warner Home Video re-released it in the mid-1990s.

In 1988, Scholastic Studios, Film Roman, Nelvana Limited, TMS Entertainment, Wang Film Productions, and Family Home Entertainment released Clifford's Fun With, a videotape series with a theme song composed by Phillip Namanworth and Benjamin Goldstein. The episodes on the release are: "The ABC Message Service", "Clifford's Birthday Surprise", "The Scavenger Hunt", "The Rhyme Cat Rescue", "Clifford Goes to Hollywood", and "The Pet Show". Musician Brent Titcomb was the voice of Clifford, and actress Alyson Court was the voice of Emily Elizabeth. In the late 1990s, a television station in Spain aired the direct-to-video series for a short period of time.

Television 
Further information: Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000 TV series), Clifford's Puppy Days, Clifford's Really Big Movie, and Clifford the Big Red Dog (2019 TV series)

Scholastic Media produced a 65-episode adaptation shown on PBS Kids, which aired from September 2000 to February 2003. Clifford was voiced by actor John Ritter, and Emily Elizabeth was voiced by Grey DeLisle. There was also a 39-episode prequel series that took place during Clifford's puppyhood, which ran from September 2003 to February 2006, with Lara Jill Miller as the voice of Young Clifford. During that time, a theatrical film which served as the show's finale was released in February 2004 and no new episodes were released after John Ritter's death. However, a new series was released on December 6, 2019 for Amazon Prime Video and December 7, 2019 on PBS Kids with Adam Sanders and Hannah Levinson as the new voices of Clifford and Emily Elizabeth respectively. They are returning on CBC Kids and CBBC and TG4.