Clifford's Puppy Days

When Evan joins the school basketball team he is discouraged by the fact that he’s much smaller than his teammates. But Clifford inspires him to use his small size to his advantage, and Evan soon learns that, when you believe in yourself, anything is possible. When Jorge neglects to take off a new sweater that Nina knit him, he accidentally rips it while playing with Clifford. Clifford and Daffodil try to help him find a way to fix the sweater, but to no avail. Jorge decides to be honest and shows Nina the rip. In the end, Nina’s grandmother helps the girls fix the damaged sweater and the next time Jorge decides to play he makes sure to remove his special sweater beforehand.

When Norville’s nest disappears, his friends decide to build him a new one, but their bickering and fooling around nearly ruins the plan. Eventually, the friends learn that they must work together in order to get the job done. Emily Elizabeth eagerly accepts Mr. Solomon’s offer of art lessons and has a great time her first day. But when Nina joins them the following day, Emily Elizabeth is discouraged because she thinks Nina’s pictures are much better than her own. Deciding art is just not one of her talents, she stops taking lessons. It isn’t until Mr. Solomon shows her his own shaky drawings from his childhood that Emily Elizabeth sees the value of practicing and resolves to keep trying.

It’s Clifford’s first Valentine’s Day and he wants to make a golden retriever pup his new friend by making her his Valentine. Unfortunately, Norville and Jorge convince him that he has to impress her first with tricks and feats of strength and generosity. Daffodil disagrees. She keeps telling Clifford to be himself. Luckily, someone else shows him just how nice being yourself can be. When the animals find out that Shun is going to get a pet, they each try to influence his opinion. But, rather than convincing him to get one type of pet over another, they make him decide not to get any pet at all. Realizing their mistake, they put their heads together to help Shun find the perfect pet.

Emily Elizabeth tells Nina that she still sleeps with her baby blanket. Later, Nina inadvertently shares this information with Shun. Soon, everyone knows about Emily Elizabeth’s “blanky.” When she discovers this, Emily Elizabeth is upset with Nina, but Nina doesn’t understand why she should apologize when Emily Elizabeth never explicitly told her that this information was a secret. With Evan’s help, Nina learns that confidences between friends really shouldn’t be broken and she apologizes to Emily Elizabeth. Jorge, in an attempt to retrieve a ball from the other side of a fence finds himself stuck. His friends try to get him out but Clifford comes up with an idea that does the trick. Jorge is so indebted to Clifford he vows to repay him and, as a result, bombards Clifford with kind favors and words. At first, Clifford enjoys this special treatment but, pretty soon, Jorge’s acts of gratitude become overwhelming. Clifford helps Jorge learn that helping your friends is an implicit part of any friendship.

Nina loses her date book Jorge doesn’t help her find it, thinking she will have more time to play with him. The plan backfires, and Jorge learns to respect Nina’s commitments. When Emily Elizabeth wakes up with a cold, Clifford does everything he can to make her feel better. He tries playing with a pop up book, playing ball, and getting her to dance. Finally he realizes that one of the best things you can do for someone who isn’t feeling well doesn’t feel like much at all. He goes into her room and snuggles with her, and she couldn’t be happier.

Evan promises to give Emily Elizabeth skateboarding lessons, but repeatedly breaks their plans when the captain of the basketball team, Bill Mazer, invites him to play ball. Evan learns the importance of keeping a promise. The Community Center is having a book drive and the student who collects the most books will win a full set of Sarah Solver mysteries. Determined to win, Nina comes up with the perfect action plan for her and her teammates, Emily Elizabeth and Shun. But when the big day comes, she comes down with a bad cold and is unable to participate. Using Nina’s plan, Shun and Emily Elizabeth set out without her and end up winning the set of mystery books. In the end, they realize that it was Nina’s plan that enabled them to collect the record number of books, and they decide to share the prize with her.

It’s the Fall Feast holiday and the Howards are planning to visit Emily Elizabeth’s grandparents. But a huge snow storm leaves them snowed in at the train station, along with many of their friends and neighbors. At first, everyone’s spirits are very low but Clifford helps Emily Elizabeth realize that the group can celebrate the Fall Feast together and rejoice in its spirit of sharing.The animals are in the courtyard making up games. When it’s Norville’s turn to invent a game he consistently reinvents the rules so that each time emerges as the winner. Each time this happens, he further alienates his friends until they eventually refuse to play with him anymore. In the end, Norville realizes the importance of playing fair.

Little Lucy Sidarsky is having a hard time adjusting to the new baby in the family. Seeing this, Daffodil decides to share with her the story of Clifford’s arrival into Daffodil’s home. It takes some time, but Daffodil soon discovers the joy of being a “big sister and friend” to someone who needs her. Lucy has her own small revelation when she is able to stop her little brother from crying. Emily Elizabeth, Nina and Shun decide to make their own kites for a special kite flying day at the park. But when neither girls’ kites will fly it looks like they won’t be able to participate in kite flying day. In the end, Shun shares his special Japanese kite making materials with his friends and this act of sharing saves the day for all involved.

The Sidarskys are moving to a newer mouse hole around the corner. Clifford offers to help them move the big family clock when he comes back from lunch. But on the way back, he gets distracted. By the time he gets back to the laundry room, the Sidarskys have already moved, but things are chaotic because the baby can’t sleep without that clock. Clifford feels bad for not being there to help, but he makes amends by moving the clock now and restoring harmony to the Sidarsky household. Emily Elizabeth and Nina volunteer to read to kids at the book fair, but problems arise when their replacements – Shun and Evan – don’t show up in time.

Jorge is excited to learn that Nina will be taking him to the Grooming Shop – until he gets some misinformation about what a grooming shop is. At first his friends try to help him find a way to get out of the experience. But Daffodil helps him realize that he should trust Nina to do what is best for him. Evan and Emily Elizabeth offer to mail a letter for Mr. Solomon on their way to buy tickets to a concert by their favorite band, the Zippers. But the kids’ plans are disrupted by their own generosity and helpful nature. When they finally arrive at the park where the concert is taking place, the tickets have been sold out. But the other members of the community are so grateful to the kids for all of their help that day that they all pitch in and make sure that Evan and Emily Elizabeth attend the concert.

Evan, Emily Elizabeth and Clifford all help out at the Adopt-A-Pup booth at the neighborhood street fair. Clifford befriends a teacup poodle named Bon Bon, a tiny dog who is barely bigger than he is, and helps her find a home. It’s Wacky Wednesday at school. Emily Elizabeth and her friends are excited to spend the day telling jokes and having fun. Nina, however, goes too far with the day. In the end she realizes that her behavior wasn’t respectful of her friends and that there is an appropriate time and place for certain behaviors.

Inspired by a classroom visit by Ken Burns, Emily Elizabeth, Nina and Shun try to make a documentary highlighting people in their neighborhood. But they’re so busy trying to do their jobs that they don’t realize how they’re messing up their interviews. After they learn a lesson from Clifford about having respect for others, they make a successful documentary. Evan get tickets to see his hero, Allan Houston, play basketball, and he’s really excited. Emily Elizabeth and Clifford come along, and they strike up a friendship with Allan Houston’s daughter, Remie, and her beagle puppy, Hoops. Evan winds up babysitting for Remie and Hoops during the game. He’s happy to do it, but he winds up missing most of the game. But he’s a good sport about it, and when Allan Houston makes it up to him by playing some one-on-one basketball with him – it’s his dream come true!

When the dessert buffet is raided at the apartment building’s annual Halloween party and havoc is wreaked by a small puppy, all the evidence points to Clifford. But the small red puppy is supported by his loyal animal friends and, of course, Emily Elizabeth. Using a bit of detective work, the animals unmask the real culprit – a stray little puppy that sneaked into the party. Ultimately, this hungry little puppy is adopted by a neighborhood family and given a home. When Clifford accidentally breaks Daffodil’s spinning top, he thinks the right thing to do is to tell her, but instead, he follows Norville’s advice and goes to great lengths to keep Daffodil from finding out.