The Clifford series is directed to primary graders and is noted for their cartoonlike pictures. So much of it has to do with stumbling into the right characteristics of this big red dog and situations you can use in a story.' MAJOR WORKS Bridwell admitted to Authors Online Library, 'Luck has a lot to do with it. Bridwell visited schools and has frequently encouraged students about being a writer and artist. After the success of his first Clifford books, Bridwell moved his family to Martha's Vineyard, where he and his wife continued to reside. He submitted his new book to Scholastic Press Beatrice Schenk deRegniers, a well-known children's author, accepted and published the book. Owner named after his own daughter, Emily. He modeled the title character after a dog he had wanted as a little boy, drew him house-size, and gave him an

Thus, Clifford the Big Red Dog (1962) was born. After fifteen publishing houses turned him down, an editor at Harper & Row suggested that Bridwell try to write his own book based on one of his sketches. To supplement his income, Bridwell decided to become an illustrator of children's books. On June 13, 1958, he married Norma Howard, a watercolor, oil painting, and print artist soon their family included a daughter, Emily Elizabeth, and a son, Timothy Howard. After three years Bridwell decided to become a freelancer. Two years later Bridwell designed cartoons for slides and filmstrips for H.

In 1953 he moved to New York City to study at Cooper Union Art School for a year and then became a commercial artist for Foxson Fabrics, where he designed fabrics for neckties. After graduating from high school, Bridwell spent two years at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATIONīridwell was born February 15, 1928, in Kokomo, Indiana, the son of Vern Ray (a factory foreman) and Mary Leona Koontz (a homemaker) Bridwell.

Bridwell's books have been translated into Chinese, Danish, French, German, Greek, Italian, and Spanish and have spawned numerous spin-off products, including toys, games, clothes, puzzles, bedding, backpacks, and beanbags. His simplistic writing style incorporates fact, fiction, and humor into books credited with teaching preschool and primary grade children a wide range of topics while keeping them laughing at Clifford's misadventures.

INTRODUCTIONīridwell is best known as the creator of more than one hundred Clifford the Big Red Dog picture books, concept books, toy books, and easy readers. (Full name Norman Ray Bridwell) American writer and illustrator of children's books.

Clifford's Halloween by Norman Bridwell