Clifford was excited today. He was going to play with his friends! The tiny puppy hopped out of bed.
"Ruff, ruff!"
Daffodil watched Clifford run around the room. She laughed.
"What are you so excited about, Clifford?" the bunny asked.
"Today I'm going to play with my friends!" Clifford barked. He wagged his tail.
Emily Elizabeth walked into the room. "Clifford, time to eat!" she called.
"Ruff, ruff!" Clifford barked. He ran into the kitchen and dove into his food bowl.
Emily Elizabeth giggled and patted Clifford on the head. Clifford had finished his food, and he raced to the door of the apartment.
"You want to play outside?" Emily Elizabeth asked. She opened the door for Clifford. The little dog ran through the hallway. He passed Flo and Zo. "Ready to play?"
"Yeah!" the kittens yelled. They followed Clifford through the hallway. Then Clifford saw Jorge!
"Hi-ya, Jorge!" Clifford called out. "Ready to play outside?"
"You betcha!" Jorge laughed. "This is gonna be so much fun."
The pets ran outside, where they met Norville.
"Hey, Norville!" Clifford cried.
"Hi, pup! Is it time to play?" Norville asked.
"Yup!" the puppy said.
Daffodil walked out the door. "Mind if I join you?"
"You can join us!" Clifford yelled. The energetic puppy wagged his tail excitedly at the thought of playing with his friends.
The friends ran over to the playground. They stated playing a game of Frisbee. Emily Elizabeth was outside talking with Nina. She looked over at Clifford affectionately.
The animals were still playing when Clifford said, "My collar feels tight!"
Daffodil hopped over to where Clifford was standing. "Is it my imagination, or does Clifford look a little bigger than he did yesterday?"
Flo and Zo ran over to Clifford. They walked around him while examining his height.
"I think he's bigger!" Flo said to Zo.
"Clifford's growing!" Zo cheered.
Norville and Jorge came over. "Let me see if he's heavier," Jorge said.
Clifford hopped on to Jorge's back. "Oof! He is heavier!" Jorge gasped.
"I wonder why he's growing?" Norville asked.
"I did eat all my breakfast today," Clifford answered.
"Maybe that's why," Norville said.
"My collar is squeezing me!" Clifford said. "I'm gonna go over to Emily Elizabeth."
The puppy ran to Emily Elizabeth. "How's the playing going?" the little girl asked.
"Ruff, ruff!" Clifford barked. Then he scratched at his collar.
Emily Elizabeth petted Clifford. "That's funny, his collar was looser yesterday," the girl said. "I'd better go tell Mom and Dad. See you later, Nina!"
Emily Elizabeth ran into the house with Clifford. "Mom, Dad, Clifford's collar is tight!"
Mrs. Howard picked up the puppy. She felt his collar. "I think it's too tight. We need a bigger collar."
"Clifford, you're growing!" Emily Elizabeth cheered.
The Howard family went to the pet store, where they picked out a bigger collar. It fit Clifford nicely. The Howards came back, and Clifford had a fun day with his friends.
The next day, Clifford woke up in his bed. He walked around the room. But something was not right. Everything was smaller!
"Daffodil, help! I think the house has shrunk!" Clifford called. He was surprised to notice his voice was a little deeper.
Daffodil hopped out of her bed. "Everything's fine, the house didn't shrink… Whoa!"
Daffodil gasped. The puppy that was usually much smaller than her was the same size as Daffodil!
"Clifford, I think you grew in the night!" Daffodil said.
"Grew? Is that bad?" Clifford asked.
"No, no, it's perfectly normal for a puppy to grow," Daffodil assured Clifford.
"My collar's tight again," Clifford said.
Emily Elizabeth woke up just then and stretched. "Clifford!"
"Ruff, ruff!" the puppy barked.
Emily Elizabeth blinked. The bark was a little lower-pitched than normal. Emily Elizabeth picked Clifford up.
"Clifford! You've grown again!" Emily Elizabeth giggled. "Now I'll have to get you another new collar."
After a trip to the pet store, Clifford went out to play with his friends.
"I need some help," Clifford said. "I keep growing and needing new collars. If I could stop growing, I wouldn't need any new collars anymore!"
"Hmm," Norville said. "What makes puppies grow?"
"Well, I think they just grow naturally," Flo said.
Just then Emily Elizabeth walked over and patted Clifford on the head. Clifford felt his collar grow tighter.
"Did you see that?" Jorge gasped. "Clifford just grew!"
"Hey, I know, I know!" Zo yelled. "Emily Elizabeth makes Clifford grow!"
"If we could make sure Emily Elizabeth and Clifford aren't together, then Clifford would stop growing!" Norville proposed.
"But I love Emily Elizabeth!" Clifford protested.
"If you didn't grow, then you wouldn't break any more collars," Norville said.
"Well, okay," Clifford said.
The entire day, Clifford avoided Emily Elizabeth. That night, the puppy hid outside under the playground. Emily Elizabeth couldn't find him. At last, she went inside.
"Oh, Daffodil, Clifford's missing!" Emily Elizabeth cried.
Emily Elizabeth couldn't sleep. She was worried about Clifford. Clifford couldn't sleep either. He kept having bad dreams. The puppy finally ran inside to Emily Elizabeth. The girl gave a cry of relief and snuggled with Clifford. Soon, they both fell asleep.
The next day, Clifford woke up to find that he had grown more. The red puppy was now bigger than a cat. His collar was too tight again.
"I can't help it!" Clifford told his friends later that day. "I love Emily Elizabeth too much!"
"Why don't you want to grow?" Jorge asked.
"Because it makes my collar get tight," answered Clifford.
"I know!" Flo yelled. "Why doesn't Clifford just take off his collar until he's done growing?"
"That's actually an excellent idea," Norville said.
Zo fiddled with the collar until it popped loose and fell off. Clifford sighed. "Much better."
"We're glad to help our friend," Clifford's friends said.
Every day, Clifford grew bigger. Soon he could hardly fit out the door.
"I'm bigger than you guys now," Clifford told his friends.
"Yeah," Jorge said. "Now that you're a big dog, will you still play with us?"
"Of course!" Clifford said.
The dog kept growing until his head stuck out one end of the apartment building and his tail the other end. Now Clifford could tell this was a problem.
"Help!" called the big red dog.
Jorge looked up from his place in the playground. "Clifford! You're huge!"
"I'm stuck!" Clifford yelled.
"Don't worry, I'll get you out, my little redling!" Norville called.
"That's the problem," Clifford said. "I'm not little anymore!"
Norville perched on Clifford's nose. "Hmm," he said. "That is a problem."
Meanwhile, inside the apartment, Daffodil was trying to figure out how Clifford could get out. Suddenly she yelled, "Clifford! Try and push yourself through the window!"
Clifford squeezed his head farther out the window. The wall started crumbling, but Clifford kept pushing. Finally, he was all the way out the window. The dog fell to the ground, relieved.
Daffodil hopped onto Clifford. "Thanks, Daffodil," Clifford said.
"I'm always there for you," Daffodil replied.
Jorge looked at his huge friend. "Clifford, I think you are kind of big for this yard."
Clifford looked around. He had unintentionally smashed the playground.
Just then, Emily Elizabeth jumped out the side of the wall onto Clifford. "I hope you've stopped growing," she said. "You've broken the house!"
Clifford whined. He was sorry that he'd broken the house.
"Aw, it's okay, buddy," Emily Elizabeth said.
Clifford wagged his tail. He accidentally broke more of the wall.
"Honey, we can't keep Clifford now that he's big," Emily Elizabeth's mom said.
"But where will he go?" Emily Elizabeth asked.
"I don't know," Mrs. Howard said.
Mr. Howard suddenly jumped up from his chair. "I've got it! We can all move to Birdwell Island!"
"Where? What?" Mrs. Howard asked.
"I was reading about it. There's lots of space, and other families live there. Perfect for Clifford!" Mr. Howard said.
After much arguing, they all agreed to move to Birdwell Island. Emily Elizabeth tearfully said goodbye to her friends.
Clifford was very sad. He started crying. Giant tears fell from his eyes, soaking his friends.
"I'll come visit you sometime, promise!" Norville said.
"We'll never forget you," Flo and Zo promised.
"I'll never forget you either," Jorge said. "You're my best bud."
Clifford gave Jorge a huge slurp. Jorge, in turn, licked him back.
After Clifford finished saying goodbye to all his friends, Emily Elizabeth said, "There's one last thing for me to do."
The little girl picked up Daffodil. "I can't take you along," she said. Emily Elizabeth carried Daffodil to Nina. "Take care of her, okay?"
"I will," Nina said. The two friends hugged.
Clifford put his nose next to Daffodil. "You've been the best big sister a dog could have," Clifford said. "I'll always remember you."
"You're the best little brother a rabbit could have," Daffodil replied. "I'll never forget you, Clifford."
Daffodil turned away so Clifford wouldn't see the bunny tears rolling down her face.
Clifford and Emily Elizabeth walked out of the yard. All their friends were waving at them as Clifford got onto a trailer and the family climbed in the front of the truck.
It was a long ride, and they had to go by boat part of the way. Clifford sometimes cried. Emily Elizabeth did too.
Finally, they arrived on the island. They got off the boat and went to their new house.
The next days were fun for the family. The Howards built a giant doghouse. Clifford had lots of space to run around. One day, he saw a little purple poodle.
"Hi, I'm Cleo," the dog said. "Do you want to be my friend?"
"Sure!" Clifford barked.
A little yellow dog came out from behind a bush. His knees were shaking. "Will you be my friend too?"
"Of course," the big red dog said. "My name's Clifford. What's yours?"
"T-T-T-T-T-Bone," the yellow dog answered.
The three dogs became great friends. And though life would never be the same, it was still wonderful.