As soon as Halloween is over, Emily Elizabeth and Clifford start thinking about Thanksgiving. Clifford’s Thanksgiving Visit by Norman Bridwell is a book about persistence, and being thankful for those we love.
In the story, Emily Elizabeth flies away to be with her Grandma over Thanksgiving. The neighbors take care of Clifford, but he gets lonely and starts to think about his own family. He decides to go visit his mother in the city. The roads are crowded. The illustrations show a huge Clifford on the highway with cars bumping into him and honking at him. A drawbridge opens right under Clifford and he falls into the water. A cold and wet Clifford tries a train tunnel, but it’s narrow and dark and a train runs into his nose. But still Clifford persists, and continues on his journey to the city.
Once in the city, he plays football with some kids in the park. He can’t find his mother’s building, so he climbs a tall building. He looks a bit like a red King Kong. Clifford stops for a minute when he sees a Macy’s parade. Kids will get a kick out of the Clifford balloon in the Macy’s parade. But he is anxious to find his mother so he doesn’t linger long.
At last he finds his mother. His mother is thrilled to see him. There’s a cute picture of a tiny mama dog kissing her “little boy”. My kids always thought that was funny.
As soon as their family dinners are over, Emily Elizabeth and Clifford hurry home to see each other because as Emily Elizabeth says “I am thankful for Clifford and he is thankful for me.”
Also See:
Clifford The Big Red Dog in Computing
Clifford the Big Red Dog in Media Reviews