clifford the big red dog norman bridwell

But even that was an accident of sorts, Langer reports. He’s not “Clifford the Big Dog.” He’s “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” and that makes a world of difference.

Maybe one of the things Bridwell got the most right was Clifford’s iconic color.

Their son also appeared in one of the books. In the end, Norman named Clifford after his wife’s imaginary friend from childhood, and Clifford’s owner after his and Norma’s daughter. He’s just a nice guy.”Ĭlifford’s original name was “Tiny,” but Norma Bridwell said that wouldn’t do. “Clifford tries to do the right thing, Norman tries to do the right thing, and he makes a mess of it,” she said. According to the BBC, she said that the big red dog and her husband shared a lot of traits, although Norman didn’t acknowledge the similarity. Norma Bridwell, the illustrator’s wife, said that the secret of Clifford’s charm was Norman, who wrote the books as well as drawing them. All children would like that-to be forgiven for the mistakes they make.” He has good intentions, but his size makes him clumsy, so he causes damage. “He’s a loving dog,” she quotes Bridwell as telling the School Library Journal. Generations of children responded to his unique charm and when Bridwell sadly passed away in 2014, he left yet another two books in the Clifford series to be published. Clifford became an international star, writes Emily Langer for The Washington Post, on par with Curious George or Babar. I don’t know if there will be another one,’” Bridwell said, according to the BBC.īut there were many more. “I said to my wife, ‘Now don’t count on there being any more. The lovable giant dog and his faithful owner Emily Elizabeth have gone down in kid-lit history, but when his first book involving Clifford became a success Bridwell thought it was a fluke. Before that, Bridwell was working as a commercial artist and trying to get into children’s publishing with limited success. American illustrator Norman Bridwell, best-known for creating Clifford the Big Red Dog, was born on this day in 1928.Ĭlifford was born almost 35 years later, writes the BBC, with the 1963 publication of Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Clifford the big red dog norman bridwell