Clifford the Big Red Dog

Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone are walking along when they notice a dog they've never seen before digging a hole in a yard. They go and talk to him and ask if they can play with him. They notice that the gate's closed and so maybe his owner doesn't want him leaving the yard. But he says that his owner probably just closed it by mistake and asks Clifford to dig a hole so he can get out. He says that his owner is visiting the island for a job. When asks his name, he gives them the name "Artie." Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone all tell him their names, but Artie seems more interested in calling them slick nicknames, such as "Curly" and "Red." Artie's human comes out of the house and he's not happy about Artie being outside of the yard. But Artie plays nice and his human says that "dogs will be dogs." Later, Artie comes to play with Clifford. Clifford agrees and looks for T-Bone and Cleo, but neither are around. Over at Cleo's house, Artie notices one of Cleo's porcupine squeak-toys and takes it, without Clifford seeing. He goes to the park with Clifford and then shows Clifford the toy. Clifford tells him that he shouldn't have taken the toy without asking Cleo. But Artie reasons that Cleo would have let him borrow the toy. The only reason he didn't ask was because she wasn't there. It's okay just as long as they return it before Cleo gets back. He convinces Clifford of this and they play with it. The plan goes wrong, though, as Cleo returns home before they're able to put it back. She starts looking for it and Clifford says to Artie that they should tell her that they were playing with it. But Artie doesn't want to do this. Instead, he hides the toy behind a tree and then says that he "found" it. Not knowing that Artie took it, Cleo thanks him for finding it. Clifford whimpers to himself. Later, Clifford finds Artie at a construction site. There's a big hole there and Artie tells Clifford that they should dig it up and make it even bigger. Clifford doesn't want to, but Artie talks him into it, saying that there could be some big bones down in it. So they start digging, but Clifford hits water, creating a huge, muddy mess. Then, the construction workers return to the site. Artie leaves, leaving Clifford there to take the blame and also covered in mud. Clifford talks with Cleo and T-Bone. T-Bone doesn't like Artie. Cleo tries to defend him, until Clifford tells her that he didn't find her hedgehog toy, he took it. Clifford's upset that he let Artie talk him into doing all the bad things. As they talk, Cleo and T-Bone are giving Clifford a bath. Artie comes and tries to them into turning on all the sprinklers in the yard, drenching it. Clifford lays down the law, saying that there are rules he has to play if he wants to play with them. At first, Artie leaves, calling Clifford a bore, but then he returns, thinking that maybe playing by the rules might be fun after all.

#22102
"Wedding Bell Blues"

Emily Elizabeth's class is gathered outside the classroom window, looking in. When Emily Elizabeth comes, Jetta tells her what it is they're looking at: their teacher Ms. Carrington has a boyfriend. They know because she told them. When they come in for class, Ms. Carrington introduces them to her boyfriend, whose name is Frank Williams. She met him at the beach when he was visiting the island last year. He's a botanist and has done research in places such as South America. He's actually here on Birdwell Island to study plants right now. But his main job is teaching. He's a college professor. Then, Ms. Carrington makes an announcement. They're getting married and she's going to be moving to the mainland. At first, the students think that it's going to be hard for her to have to come on the ferry to teach every day. That's when Ms. Carrington gives them the bad news. She's not going to be their teacher anymore. However, she's already met the new teacher, Mrs. Grumbly and she's a nice lady. She thinks they'll do okay with her. The class isn't so sure, especially with a name like Mrs. Grumbly. After school, talk focuses on what to expect from Mrs. Grumbly. Everyone's thinking seems to be worst-case scenario. Charley thinks that maybe she could be allergic to children. Jetta thinks maybe it's not that bad, but she could be allergic to dogs. Another scenario paints her as a drill instructor. She blows a really loud whistle and makes everyone salute and do what she tells them. Nobody's sure what she'll be like, but they all agree that it probably won't be good. That evening, Emily Elizabeth talks with Clifford in her doghouse. She's still trying to think about what things will be like with Mrs. Grumbly teaching. She finally decides that there's really no way to know until tomorrow. The next morning, everyone is waiting anxiously, watching as Ms. Carrington clears out her things for the classroom. Then, Mrs. Grumbly arrives. Their fears seem to be coming true when she sneezes. But it was just one sneeze and she's not allergic to kids after all. She says that she's still getting used to the fresh island air. She used to teach someplace far, far away. She pulls out a whistle and now it seems like the drill-instructor scenario is coming true. But it turns out she just uses it for soccer. This impresses Charley. Mrs. Grumbly, having talked to Ms. Carrington, is able to figure out who Charley is, as well as Jetta. She also soon figures out who Emily Elizabeth is and asks to meet her dog, Clifford. She does and Clifford, as usual, is a lot of fun. Everyone enters the class, except for Emily Elizabeth, who's staying behind to help Mrs. Grumbly out, since Ms. Carrington had told her that Emily Elizabeth is the best helper in the class. Mrs. Grumbly admits to Emily Elizabeth that she was a bit scared to meet Clifford, as she had heard about how big he was and thought he might be scary. But now that she's met him, she thinks he's a lot of fun. Emily Elizabeth realizes that it wasn't right for all of them to judge Mrs. Grumbly before they met her. And so she and Mrs. Grumbly go inside so everyone can get to know each other better.moreless