New York – Scholastic Media announced that it will kick off the 50th anniversary celebration of Clifford the Big Red Dog on September 24th – in conjunction with the publication of NORMAN BRIDWELL’S CLIFFORD COLLECTION and the “Biggest Birthday Party Ever” at Scholastic headquarters in New York City, a live event which will be streamed to classrooms nationwide. The campaign will span the school year and will include the launch of new publishing, a birthday card campaign and a national sweepstakes leading up to Clifford’s official birthday on February 14, 2013. Since the first Clifford book was published in 1963, the property has expanded to include 126 million books in print and an Emmy Award-winning television series – currently in its twelfth consecutive season on PBS KIDS in the US; the show has been sold to 30 countries in 12 languages worldwide.

“For 50 years, Clifford has earned a place among the most iconic and beloved characters in children’s literature and entertainment,” said Deborah Forte, President of Scholastic Media and Executive Vice President of Scholastic Inc. “We are delighted to invite children and families to participate in this BIG celebration – and to congratulate Norman Bridwell on this extraordinary milestone.”

Highlights of the Clifford 50th Anniversary year include:

‘BIGGEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER’ KICK OFF EVENT / LIVE CLASSROOM WEBCAST
On September 24, 2012, at 10:00AM ET, Scholastic will host "Clifford’s BIGGEST Birthday Party Ever" – a LIVE celebration at Scholastic’s New York City headquarters and webcast to classrooms nationwide.  Hundreds of children will gather to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Clifford and Norman Bridwell will be on hand for a BIG reveal on the façade of the company’s iconic SoHo building. Children attending the live event and joining via webcast will get to participate in some BIG birthday fun – including activities that reinforce the social / emotional, literacy and language skills that Clifford espouses.

PUBLISHING
The anniversary will see a variety of releases: in September, Scholastic will publish NORMAN BRIDWELL’S CLIFFORD COLLECTION, a collection of six classic stories originally published between 1963-1977. Also included is an original letter from Norman Bridwell to the reader, information about the creation of Clifford—including the original and never-before-seen 1962 painting that inspired the Clifford series— and the story behind the real Emily Elizabeth. Spring 2013 will bring the publication of CLIFFORD’S BIRTHDAY PARTY and an all-new board book, CLIFFORD’S BEDTIME STORY. Both the COLLECTION and CLIFFORD’S BIRTHDAY PARTY will be published in simultaneous e-book and Spanish editions. In addition to the more than fifty Clifford books in print, Storia™, Scholastic’s teacher recommended eReading app for kids, will debut more than twenty Clifford e-books.

NEW APPS
September also marks the launch of Clifford’s BIG Birthday App for iOS and Android ($0.99) – a brand-new, must-have birthday app. In it, Emily Elizabeth invites players to join her in Clifford’s BIG doghouse as she works to create a surprise party for his birthday. The app features three highly interactive and replayable birthday-themed games, including a leveled word game that builds literacy skills using augmented reality. Each game reinforces language skills needed for early readers, including spelling, word families, and sight words.