The Original Clifford Collection

 By Norman Bridwell

These stories are not as good as I remember.  I got the original stories because I know that the new ones are particularly bad, especially with that newfangled Clifford TV show airing.

Oh boy, I could go on about that show.  But basically the worst thing about it is the opening theme, which is the most rambling folk-pop pile of crap.

 Now, the original stories are better than the television show because they don't have a whole host of characters, the drawings and colour pallet are really simple, and the story is short and sweet.  But they keep going to the circus which I hate.  And stuff like this happens, where Clifford displays fine motor skills, problem solving skills and the ability to use tools, which would be fine.

But then he does stupid stuff like this, because he's a dog.  The author just can't decide whether he's got a dog brain or a human brain.

Also, there are all of the usual problems you find in older books for kids where emotional responses are so simplistic and most of the events are pretty predictable.

But, you know.  The dog is HUGE and RED.  Which is just such an exciting idea for kids.  It doesn't matter what he gets up to.

My daughter lost her mind when I brought this home from the library.