Clifford Barks!

ISBN 0439149991 - When I first stumbled across him, Clifford the Small Red Puppy came as a surprise to me. I've known Clifford the Big Red Dog for ages and always thought he'd have been a HUGE puppy. It turns out that the size issue - in the opposite way, of course - that makes Clifford an adorable Big Dog serves to make him an equally adorable Small Puppy. Clifford barks. At everything and everyone. All the time. He barks inside and outside, at animals and people and kids and adults. Why all the barking? It just so happens that the bark of the small red puppy means "I like you"! My first thought here is for the literal parents or those whose children might be susceptible: dogs' barks in the real world don't generally mean "I like you" and you might want to be sure your child knows that, otherwise he or she might just cozy up to the wrong strange dog. Norman Bridwell struck gold when he gave life to Clifford. The illustrations are bright and colorful and full of detail without being cluttered. Clifford is fantastically cute - two of him could fit into his food bowl! The rhyming text is simple and slightly repetitive, a help for young readers. The board book pages are sturdy, can stand up to some abuse and are easy for less-than-nimble fingers to turn. The small size of the book makes it excellent for taking along when you're out and just the right size for toddlers. - AnnaLovesBooks

This was one of my daughter's favorite books when she was about 12-18 months old. The pictures are bright and uncluttered, and the text is repetitive and simple and focuses on common, everyday objects (Clifford barks at his dish, at the cat, at the fish, at the birds in the trees, and so on). In other words, it is perfect for the youngest readers. She liked it so much that I bought her several other Clifford Puppy books (she had never seen the TV series), but this one was always her favorite.

My daughter loves this book...especially the barking noise.The storyline follows Clifford as he goes through his day encounteringvarious situations and people. The main idea is that Clifford barksat most everyone and everything because, as the last page notes, "Clifford's bark means `I like you.'" The concept is simple, but I like the book because the drawings are colorful and varied.