Clifford's Puppy Days

When Emily Elizabeth can't find one of her lucky socks for the first day of school, Clifford's determined to hunt it down for her. After a thorough search of her room and an investigation of Flo and Zo's secret kitten stash, he's no closer to victory. On a hunch, he accompanies Mr. Howard to the laundry room where he finds the Sidarskys have turned the sock into a bed for their youngest mouse. Clifford swaps his favorite slipper for the sock, but Emily Elizabeth's happiness more than compensates for his loss. In the end, even Daffodil admits he was right--you shouldn't give up when you're helping a friend. While Evan is baby-sitting Emily Elizabeth and Clifford, he tries to impress Vanessa, the new girl in the building, but all his attempts result in disaster. Finally Evan stops trying so hard and plays with Clifford and Emily. Once he decides to be himself, Vanessa is truly impressed - especially when she sees how good a friend Evan is.

The beginning of the new school year brings new neighbors for the Howards. The animals excitedly wonder if they have a pet...until they're alarmed by a strange wailing noise coming from the apartment. Rumors of a monster are fed by the discovery of an enormous tooth and the disappearance of Flo. When Clifford finally meets the friendly new family, he finds that all his fears of them housing a monster are unfounded. In the end, Clifford and the gang realize that you should get to know people before you decide what they're like. The kittens, Flo and Zo, are staying with the Howards while their owner is away for the weekend. Clifford wants to be a good host but the kittens are not the most considerate house guests. They make a mess and don’t clean up after themselves. They’re rude about food. And worst of all they break Clifford’s favorite toy in the whole world and don’t apologize. Clifford’s feelings are hurt big time but Flo and Zo don’t comprehend their mistake until they see how upset Clifford is. Flo and Zo apologize and help set things straight.

Clifford and Jorge are reminiscing about the day they met. Through flashback, we see what happened on Clifford's first trip to the neighborhood dog run. Clifford nervously makes several attempts to meet the other dogs, but each is unsuccessful. Ready to give up, Clifford stumbles into a hole Jorge's been digging and the two quickly strike up a friendship. They join some other dogs in a game of Dog Ball and Jorge sticks up for Clifford when another dog picks on him. Once Jorge teaches Clifford the right way to play, the two prove to be an impressive duo out on the court. Clifford then returns the favor by sharing his lunch with Jorge. Later, when Clifford returns home, he receives a special surprise-- he and Jorge are neighbors! At the same time, this reunion allows their owners-- Emily Elizabeth and Nina-- a chance to follow the dogs' lead and become friends too. When Clifford realizes how much fun Emily Elizabeth is having in her new club at school, he decides to start one with all of his friends in the apartment complex. A problem arises, however, when the members have trouble finding just the right clubhouse.

Emily Elizabeth has just finished her best painting ever for the school art fair. Suddenly, by accident, Clifford runs through the paint and right across the painting!! Flo and Zo tell him to hide it so they roll it up, but Clifford feels terrible. The next morning, he tries to get Emily Elizabeth to see the painting before she takes it to school, but its no use. When the judges see the painting, complete with colored paw prints, they love it! When Emily Elizabeth tells everyone who really put the paw prints on her painting, she and Clifford receive a big round of applause! In the end, Clifford realizes he should have told Emily Elizabeth the truth about what he’d done right from the start. Clifford befriends Bibi, a seeing-eye dog who recently moved into the building. This friendship brings confusion because Bibi appears to ignore Clifford when she is assisting her owner. Yet, when Bibi is off duty Clifford can't ask for a more attentive friend. Clifford ultimately learns that friends remain friends even when they are not in a position to show it.

Clifford and Emily Elizabeth have a great time playing with the “sock spider.” Daffodil feels left out but doesn’t tell him how she feels. In the end she finally admits her feelings and, feeling he hasn’t been sensitive, Clifford asks her to join in the game. She does and the three play Hide n’ Seek with the sock spider. It’s another day at the dog run. As per usual, each pup brings a toy to share with the other dogs, but Jorge is reluctant to share his brand new squeaky squirrel. First, he hides it. Then he deflects attention onto the other dogs’ toys. Then he pretends he’s lost the toy. Finally, Jorge agrees to let the others use it, but is so protective that his friends find it almost impossible to really play with it. Jorge confesses the truth and then trudges off with his toy, thinking no one wants to play with him but the other dogs call him back. They understand that you can have a really special toy that you want to save just for yourself and respect Jorge’s desire to keep his “special toy” separate from the groups’ play. In the end, Jorge realizes he should have just been honest about his feelings from the beginning.

When an older dog, Tricksie, moves into the apartment complex, Clifford and Jorge unsuccessfully try to get her to join in their dog games. While Tricksie amazes Clifford and Jorge with her creative ideas, she gets tired easily and the 2 younger dogs are unsure of how to play with her. Then along comes a rainy day, which forces Clifford and Jorge to stay inside. When they become bored, Tricksie entertains them with a story about her life in the circus and teaches them some circus tricks. Clifford and Jorge realize that though Tricksie may be different from them, she has much to offer in her own way. And the two dogs also learn to respect her for being different. When Emily Elizabeth attends her first sleepover, Clifford misses her so much he can’t imagine how he’ll pass the time until she returns home. He’s never spent a night without her and is completely distraught. Daffodil realizes that if she can keep him busy until bedtime, he’ll be fine as Emily Elizabeth will return first thing in the morning. Daffodil enlists the other animals and, working together, they help Clifford get through the evening.

When Clifford inadvertently joins Emily Elizabeth’s class on a trip to the Hands-On Nature Museum, Emily Elizabeth and her friends decide to hide his presence for fear that they will have to miss the field trip if the teacher discovers the truth. In the end, however, they learn that they should have been honest from the start. Clifford offers to baby-sit the Sidarsky kids. Despite Daffodil’s warnings, he insists that the job will be simple and easy but soon discovers that babysitting the 4 little mice is a lot harder than he anticipated. Daffodil offers to help him, however Clifford declines, insisting that he can do this job on his own, all by himself. But when he becomes too sleepy to watch the kids on his own, Clifford admits to Daffodil that he does indeed need help, and learns that a big part of being responsible is being able to ask others for help when you really need it.

Nina’s birthday is coming up, and she sets out to plan the best party ever. But at the last minute, a pipe bursts at the party location and ruins Nina’s plans. She is crushed and decides to call of the party. Emily Elizabeth feels bad, and decides to throw a small party for Nina in the courtyard. She gets everyone in the building to pitch in and, when they all surprise Nina, she is delighted. In the end, Nina learns that any party with your friends is indeed the perfect party. When Mrs. Howard misplaces her car keys, everyone in the house scrambles to try to find them before Emily Elizabeth misses her ballet recital. Daffodil insists that Clifford is just too small to help, but Clifford can't sit idly by knowing that Emily Elizabeth needs him. Eventually, Clifford figures out just where to look and capitalizes on his small size to retrieve the missing keys. Daffodil and Clifford realize that physical size doesn’t matter—anyone, regardless of size, can be a big help.

Something Special: As he tries to help set up for a big Cinco de Mayo party, Clifford begins to doubt that he has any special skills to offer.109b Shun Gets in the Game: It’s a beautiful first day of spring AND the official opening day of the Courtyard Volleyball season! As Emily Elizabeth grabs her ball and rushes outside to play, Clifford and his friends are right behind her. Soon, they make up their own game- walleyball and everyone joins in. The only one who doesn’t seem to be having a good time is Shun. When he hits the volleyball out for the third time, he suddenly pretends to hear his mom calling. Next, he arrives at the court with band-aids on every finger. Finally, he admits to Evan that he doesn’t like to play volleyball because he’s not very good at it. Evan helps him understand that you don’t have to be GOOD at a sport to have FUN playing it. Soon, Shun gets in the game and joins in the fun.

It’s the first snowfall of the year and it seems like everyone in the apartment building has a set tradition for the occasion except Norville. As a result, Norville is left feeling sad and lonely. His spirits are lifted, though, when his friends start a new winter tradition that specifically includes him. Flo is a super-athlete - she excels in physical pursuits, whether it be running, spinning, or catching a flying disc. Clifford can’t keep up with her, but he doesn’t care, as long as he’s having fun. But when Jorge brings over his new toy, a Bean Bag, Flo discovers to her dismay that she’s not very good at playing with it. Worse yet, Clifford is just great at the Bean Bag game. Rather than admit that she’s not very good, Flo dismisses this new game as boring, and claims that she’d rather play by herself. Once she’s all alone, however, Flo realizes that being with your friends, not being the best, is what makes playtime so much fun.

Nina has written a play about springtime and she's making her friends the stars. However, Nina has very specific ideas about how things should be performed and insists everything is done her way. Nina is unfazed when her cast and crew eventually leave the show because it allows her to finally do everything herself. But without their help, the rehearsal is a disaster. Nina realizes that she simply can’t do it all on her own and that he friends don’t like being told what to do. Nina is a good friend by playing fair. Norville’s molting throws him in to a tizzy. Embarrassed by the way he looks, he refuses to let his friends see him. At first his behavior confuses Clifford, but Emily Elizabeth inadvertently helps him understand when she recounts losing her first baby tooth. She thought everyone would laugh at her, but she learned that her friends easily accepted her appearance; it wasn’t her tooth that they liked, it was Emily Elizabeth. Inspired by this story, Clifford and his friends then set out to show Norville that his worth is not based on his appearance.

Norville loves to sing but his constant off-key clamor is driving everyone bonkers. All the animals decide that they need to speak with Norville about the constant singing, but Clifford is worried about hurting his feelings. He volunteers to speak with Norville alone so that he can “break the news gently” but finds that he is so worried about hurting Norville’s feelings that he is unable to level with his friend. Eventually, Norville’s nighttime singing evokes “boos” from the sleepy residents of the apartment building, and his feeling get very hurt. Clifford realizes that he should have been honest with Norville in the first place and Norville realizes that his actions were inconsiderate. When a snow storm prevents Shun, Emily Elizabeth, and Nina from playing outside, the three are very bored. Shun decides to entertain his friends with a traditional Japanese story about Issunboshi— a very small boy, (dog), who ends up saving the day with his big heart and limitless bravery. We dissolve into a fantasy where our kids and a animals play the roles.