New York – March 4, 2010 – Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced a new publishing program based on the Clifford the Big Red Dog® BE BIG™ campaign – which invites everyone, big and small, to raise awareness for how Clifford’s BIG ideas (Share, Play Fair, Have Respect, Work Together, Be Responsible, Be A Good Friend, Help Others, Be Truthful, Be Kind and Believe In Yourself) can make the world a better place. Ten best-selling titles by beloved author Norman Bridwell—newly repackaged to correspond with each of the ten BIG ideas—will be reissued beginning in May 2010.

The first four titles to be released in Summer 2010 include “Clifford the Big Red Dog” (Be a Good Friend), “Clifford Goes to School” (Believe in Yourself), “Clifford the Firehouse Dog” (Help Others) and “Clifford’s Good Deeds” (Be Responsible). In Fall 2010, Scholastic will release “Clifford’s Family” (Have Respect), “Clifford at the Circus” (Work Together) and “Clifford’s Manners” (Share). And come Spring 2011, “Clifford’s Birthday Party” (Be Truthful), “Clifford Takes a Trip” (Be Kind), and “Clifford’s Day With Dad” (Play Fair) will be released. In addition to these ten titles, an additional twelve readers and eight board books will be released over three years with newly added BE BIG branding. With more than 126 million books in print, Clifford is a literary classic that is embraced by parents, teachers and kids.

“Clifford’s genuine warmth and kindness come straight from the heart of his creator,” said Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade. “For more than 45 years, Norman Bridwell has been writing and illustrating stories that have resonated with generations of children and families. We are delighted to reissue these best-selling favorites in conjunction with BE BIG, an outreach campaign that captures the very essence of the Big Red Dog.”

The news follows a month of BIG activity for the BE BIG campaign – including the recent announcement that Clifford is celebrating its 10th anniversary on PBS KIDS® this year. In January, in celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Of Service, PBS KIDS aired ten days of programming called “BE BIG WITH CLIFFORD: TEN DAYS, TEN WAYS.” The BIG ideas were borne out of the curriculum originally developed for the award-winning animated television series.

Last month, Scholastic and FAO Schwarz kicked off the program with a BE BIG celebration for Valentine’s Day where guests enjoyed a special reading of Norman Bridwell’s Clifford The Big Red Dog by author and Emmy® Award-winning co-host of the “The View,” Sherri Shepherd, as well as a costumed appearance by Clifford and a “Make Your Own Valentine” activity for kids.

Last month also marked the launch of the second annual BE BIG In Your Community Contest – which invites kids of all ages, teachers, parents and community leaders to submit a BIG idea that demonstrates Clifford’s BIG Ideas to enter for a chance to win $75,000 in community grants to be used towards implementing the winning proposals from the Be Big Fund. Last year’s winning entry and the runners-up can be seen at http://www.scholastic.com/cliffordbebig/contest/. Contest open to legal residents of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, except second place eligibility limited to legal residents of Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. For complete rules go to www.scholastic.com/cliffordbebig/contestrules.

In addition, Scholastic has introduced a new online “Promise” campaign which urges everyone to embrace Clifford’s BIG ideas and demonstrates that small, simple actions can make the world a better place. Clifford’s BE BIG Promise asks consumers to visit www.scholastic.com/cliffordbebig/promise to promise to BE BIG all year long. Those who make the promise, depending upon their age, have the opportunity to share the Promise via email, Twitter, and Facebook – as well as explore volunteer opportunities through HandsOn Network.

Scholastic is working with HandsOn Network (www.handsonnetwork.org) to activate the BE BIG campaign in local communities through the BE BIG Fund. HandsOn Network is the largest volunteer management organization in the nation. The organization equips, mobilizes and inspires people to take action to change the world.

The BE BIG campaign is sponsored by American Family Insurance, a company with a long tradition of giving back to communities where it does business in order to ensure quality of life for those communities and their residents, particularly children and families. Based in Madison, Wis., American Family Insurance offers auto insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance, health insurance, business and farm/ranch insurance in 19 states, is the nation’s third-largest mutual property/casualty insurance company and ranks 388th on the Fortune 500 list.

For more information about Scholastic, visit our online media room (mediaroom.scholastic.com),corporate blog (www.oomscholastic.com), or Twitter (www.twitter.com/scholastic).

For more information on Clifford visit PBSKIDS.org/clifford or PBSKIDS.org/pressroom.

For more information on American Family Insurance, visit The BE BIG campaign is sponsored by AmFam.com.

Contacts:

Tracy van Straaten
Vice President of Publicity, Trade
Scholastic Inc.
212/389-3782/ tvanstaaten@scholastic.com

Kyle Good
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Scholastic Inc.
212/343-4563/ kgood@scholastic.com