Clifford's ABC

Clifford the Big Red Dog

by Norman Bridwell

Everyone's favourite red dog teaches the ABC's in his own playful manner.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Kids, Fiction, Classics, Dogs, Animals

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1984

About the author

Norman Bridwell was an American author and cartoonist, best-known for the Clifford the Big Red Dog series of children's books. Bridwell attended John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. He lived on Martha's Vineyard, MA, where he wrote an average of two books a year.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with Clifford's Word Book this alphabet primer is tedious to read unless it is being used as an educational tool. Each page has a letter of the alphabet with some random words or images. There is no attempt at a story and barely an attempt to do anything fun with the pictures.

This image sums it up:


Alert: The letter "E" in this book from 1983 (and my 2001 reprint) includes a word with the depiction of an Indigenous person from the Arctic that is now considered offensive.

[Erth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone's favourite red dog teaches the ABC's in his own playful manner.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter loved this book. I had such a good time reading this with her because I was able to see just how much she's been learning the last few months.

She always enjoyed Clifford books because she loves dogs...and she loves that Clifford is a BIG dog.

At the beginning and end of this book, all of the letters are spread over 2 pages, and Clifford is playing with each letter. I said each letter, and she repeated it after me. When we got to letters she recognized, she would say "B for Brooklyn", "D for Daddy", "M for Mommy".

Then most of the letters are given their own page filled with items that begin with that letter. My daughter would point out some of them herself and say the name. Sometimes she would repeat after me. If it was an animal she knew, she would then say the sound the animal makes.

I was really surprised to see just how much she's been comprehending over the last few months. She's really starting to recognize the letters, and she's not even 2 yet. We have a "B for Brooklyn" book we own at home, and it's one of her favorite books. She looks through it multiple times throughout the day and I think that is why this book was so familiar to her. You can ask her to find a letter and most of the time she will flip through the book until she finds it. I even noticed that when she was at the back of the book and I asked her to find the letter B, she knew she should flip to the beginning of the book, or she needed to go more middle to end to find the M.

This is a fun book for those who enjoy Clifford and are still learning their letters.

[Maddison Askew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for younger children. There are multiple pictures for each letter and they are used in many ways. You could use this in the classroom by having the student come up with multiple words for each letter. This book includes tons of illustrations that children will love and understand.

[Rebecca Durham sagoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book because it would be perfect to use in a kindergarten classroom. For each letter it has specific words that start with that letter in the book. I love this because kids will be able to remember their letters better when associating the letter with something they like.

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice alphabet book teaching children words beginning with each letter using a combination of pictures and words to help readers at each stage. Adding Clifford may make it appeal to more readers.

[Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

For kindergarten children, I would use this book in the classroom to help children learn vocabulary words that begins with the letters of the alphabet from A-Z.

[Cory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Clifford!This book is a great book to learn one's ABC's. I think that children reflect well with the Clifford character and the fun loving stories he has. I highly recommend this book.

[Analysia Salcido · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to help students begin recognizing letters. A great read aloud for pre-k and kindergarten students.

[Melissa C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not like the usual way of reading it.

[Danielle Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great educational

[Shelbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clifford is a good book to read and to teach the ABC’s!

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book in the Clifford the Big Red Dog series. Cute book for learning the alphabet.

[Amara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wrong nutcracker, lol. But excellent for teaching your future makeup artist very early how to spell "palette".

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Many pictures and terms are outdated or not what I think is important for a kid to learn.

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cute book

[Georgina Rump · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a list of words like a mini dictionary. Cute pictures

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was "the new hotness" for a solid month. My child loves the orderliness of the alphabet.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to read with kids.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

On every page of this ABC book there are several images which are identified according to the letter of the alphabet. Along the side of each page is the list of those words. Fun illustrations with Clifford on every page.

[Rosalinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setting: N/A
POV: N/A

Summary: This book is great for introducing young students to the alphabet. The author of this book includes a list of words that begin with the particular letter on each page. I believe including a list of words in addition to an illustration is very beneficial for young students. They are introduced to a variety of words that will help them remember each letter of the alphabet. There is no story or setting to this book but the memorable characters, Clifford and Emily Elizabeth, are seen throughout the book. The inclusion of these two characters is great because it is familiar to young students whether they have read other books about Clifford or have seen television shows about him. Regardless of how the young students remember and associate the characters, the book is a great way to introduce the alphabet.
Classroom uses/theme: I would use this book in my preschool classroom because it is a great way to introduce the alphabet to toddlers. There is no story to this book therefore it would be used as a resource and a conversational piece to introduce the toddlers to the alphabet. Each page has one letter with images that begin with that letter. The toddlers begin to associate the images and sounds to each letter on the page.

[Jenn Swanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is full of pictures and shows kids what they can associate with each letter of the alphabet. My daughter enjoyed this book. Would recommend.

[Mika Moss · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the fact that in Clifford's ABC one sees multiple illustrations for multiple words for each letter. However, some important traits of an alphabet book are missing. The lowercase letters are not what are taught in the schools, there is no interesting story to keep a child interested, and they use different variations of each letter in the words - which can confuse children terribly. This would be good for older kids, but teaching children out of this book doesn't seem fully realistic, even with the good illustrations.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Does NOT have a story. Each page covers one letter of the alphabet. You see Clifford and Emily Elizabeth with labeled objects that all begin with the designated letter. There is also a list of all the objects to the side, to help you in talking with your toddler about them. More useful as a device for conversation with your toddler about letters.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one turned out to be a winner, as I supposed it would when pre-reading it. For each letter there is a whole list and picture with each item in the list. After a while, when I read a word off the list, my son would start finding the words on the page. Helpful for a pre-reader.

[Jen Roark]

I really like Clifford's ABC by Norman Bridwell because it expands the kids vocabulary. Instead of just listing the letters and possibly one word that starts with the letter, she lists several words.. This is good because it lets kids understand more words which will help them in the future.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was okay. It's a good way to introduce words that begin with different letters of the alphabet. I felt like there was an overwhelming amount of words for each letter though. I probably wouldn't use this book until the child really knows the alphabet.

[Courtney Howard]

This book is ideal for young children. For each letter there are multiple pictures and uses the letters in different ways. You could use this by having students come up with ohter words for each letter

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is nothing special about this ABC book. It is a little outdated with words like "Eskimo."

[Eireanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the suggested summer reading list for students.