Calvin and Hobbes: A Boy and His Tiger

A friend recently sent me a copy of the book Calvin and Hobbes. The book is a collection of cartoons by Bill Watterson. They are drawn from his syndicated cartoon strip "Calvin and Hobbes."

Calvin is a precocious, irreverant, hyperactive, cheeky, philosophical, imaginative and mischievous boy. Hobbes appears to the outside world to be his cuddly toy tiger. In Calvin's mind (and in our view through his eyes), however, Hobbes is his best friend and playmate. Hobbes can discuss philosophy, plan mischief alongside Calvin, act as a sounding board for working out life's mysteries and can also eat him ferociously if Calvin's mother forgets to feed him.

The outside of the book is in bright colors and show's Calvin in his tow-headed glory and Hobbes in his best Sunday comic strip orange and black. Inside, however, the book is in weekday black and white design. The strips usually run, as they do in the newspaper, four panels to a strip. The book features three or four strips to a page. Sometimes the strips on a single page tell an ongoing story in serial form. Sometimes, the individual strip is its own story.

We get to see Calvin and Hobbes in many locals. At home, they interact with Calvin's parents. His mother is a terrific lady who cooks good nutritious meals and obviously loves her son though she is clearly flumoxed by her son sometimes. She is the mother I hope every child has. She is kind and loving and has a sense of humor about things. Calvin's father is also a good parent and supportive. He seems also confused and delighted by his son. Though Calvin often tells his father that "his rating in the polls are falling," his father stands fast to his decisions about Calvin. Whether they are trying to get their boy into the bathtub, or convincing him to eat whatever is for dinner, or arranging babysitters...whatever they are doing, it comes through in every panel that they love their boy.

At school, Calvin is constantly at odds with Miss Wormwood, his teacher. (One wonders if Watterson named this teacher after the demon from C.S. Lewis's Screwtape letters). She is a heavy and older woman who tries to keep Calvin on track. However, his mind wanders and she transforms into various space monsters which must be fought by Calvin's imaginary alter-ego Spiff the Spaceman. However, before Spiff can get too far, she often brings him back to reality. Inside school and out in the neighborhood is a little girl named Susie who Calvin hates (though Hobbes talks a lot about smooching her.) He tries to cheat off her papers in school. He throws snowballs at her. He excludes her from his tree house. He tries to gross her out with his lunches.

My favorite cartoons are not the strips, but the single pictures that run the length of the strips. My absolute favorite is one of Calvin running gleefully. He is clearly just out of the bathtub and dripping water as his mother tries to catch him from behind.

Calvin and Hobbes is a smart and funny book. The characters are loving and funny. I like Calvin. I'm glad I'm not his parent, but I can appreciate the struggles she goes through. If you want a fun book to enjoy with your children, or if you just need a laugh, I highly recommend Calvin and Hobbes and Watterson's other collections featuring the boy and the tiger. This collection was published first in 1987 and so features older cartoons. Other collections include later material.