Clifford's BIGGEST 'Birthday Party Ever' Kicks Off 50th Anniversary Celebration

Scholastic Media, a division of Scholastic Inc., the global children's publishing, education and media company, today hosted 'Clifford's BIGGEST Birthday Party Ever' – a live webcast event streamed to classrooms nationwide that kicks off a year-long 50th birthday celebration of Clifford the Big Red Dog®. In honor of the celebration, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York, proclaimed the day as 'Clifford The Big Red Dog® Day.'

Approximately 5,000 classrooms nationwide registered to participate in the event via live webcast and watched as hundreds of first graders from New York City schools participated in the party in front of Scholastic's iconic SoHo headquarters. The children met Clifford's creator, Norman Bridwell, shared their own birthday wishes for their favorite Big Red Dog, participated in some BIG birthday activities that reinforce the social-emotional, literacy and language skills that Clifford espouses, and finally, sang "Happy Birthday" to Clifford as a giant BIG red dog was revealed along the façade of the Scholastic building.

"We're delighted to pay tribute to Clifford, his creator, Norman Bridwell, and thousands of classrooms from around the country," said Deborah Forte, President of Scholastic Media and Executive Vice President of Scholastic Inc. "For 50 years, Clifford has been delighting children and bringing out the best in them; it is only fitting that his many fans come together for this BIG celebration."

For 50 years, Clifford has been entertaining children, parents and teachers with his BIG adventures. In his beloved dog, Bridwell created a literary classic embraced by generations that has become one of America's most beloved children's characters. Clifford emphasizes good citizenship and the importance of community. Through the character of Clifford, whose heart is as big as he is, children absorb gentle lessons about acceptance and inclusion through Clifford's BIG Ideas (Share, Play Fair, Have Respect, Be Responsible, Work Together, Be Truthful, Be Kind, Believe in Yourself, Be A Good Friend and Help Others). With more than 126 million books in print, the Emmy® Award-winning television series is now in its 12th consecutive season on PBS KIDS and has been sold to more than 30 countries in 12 languages worldwide.