The Big Red Dog has great appeal to kids, probably because he's so… well, human. He's so BIG, but he thinks he's just a regular dog until he tries to do what other dogs do, and that's when the surprises begin in Clifford the Big Red Dog Reading (Scholastic). Take, for example, the reading games that he and Emily Elizabeth have set up for kids ages 4 to 6. Clifford helps out Emily's Dad by conjuring up pictures that he can print on t-shirts at his shop. Kids help out by finding the beginning, middle, or ending sound that's missing in the label for the picture. Another game has parrots that squawk out letter sounds and have to be matched up after they've flown off their roost when Clifford warns them a cat was coming. You can almost feel the spray when Clifford volunteers to take a turn at the Dunk-the-Dog booth, where kids need to pop balloons full of the correct sight words to have a chance to dunk him in the ocean. Perhaps the most unique activity is working with Monique, the artist on the boardwalk, to spell out words (four letters or less), watch Clifford strike a pose, and see a painting representing that word magically emerge on her canvas. Other activities address similar letter and sound recognition skills. Play enough games and kids earn tickets to grab a special prize at the prize booth. Along the way they'll also hear mini lessons on various letters of the alphabet and earn bonus books that either Emily will read aloud or they can record their own voice reading. These books can be printed out, too. Explanations of how to play the games are a little tedious at times, but with three levels of play there are enough variations of activities to keep kids coming back for more.