Our Summer of Calvin & Hobbes

“Who was the guy who first looked at a cow and said, 'I think I’ll drink whatever comes out of these things when I squeeze ’em'?”Bill Waterson

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This quote made my son laugh for a solid minute.

Lots of things Bill Waterson draws and writes makes my son and daughter laugh -- and not small, little chuckles like you get when you read Big Nate, but long, deep, eye-watering laughs.

Waterson was the genius who drew Calvin & Hobbes, entertaining millions of us for more than a decade.  My son discovered some of my old books this spring and brought them to school on a daily basis (disruptive much??).

Now, the books are our constant companions.

The books we don't own, we check out from our library (apologies to those of you waiting for Yukon Ho! ) and read around the house, before bedtime, and even when we eat.  We keep two books in the back seats of the car so each child can read while we're driving.

As the humor lands, it's the reader's job to describe the amusing panel aloud to whomever will listen.

What can I say; we aren't complicated folks!

We came home from date night to relieve our baby sitter and as we were getting the debrief on how the night went, he mentioned how the kids had introduced him to Calvin & Hobbes.

Excuse me?

Had he never seen Calvin & Hobbs? REALLY??!

What. In. The. World.

How sad.  How utterly deprived. Then I realized our college-aged sitter wasn't even born when Calvin & Hobbes ended.

Are there others who either don't know or have forgotten how Calvin & Hobbes is positively THE best comic strip* EVAH?   I hate the thought and so, I had my children pick out a few of their favorite "punch lines" and remind you why you should own these books!

Calvin's Prodigious Vocabulary!

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Calvin's Engineering Skills

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Calvin's Enthusiasm For (Gross) Life

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Calvin's Courage

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Realistic Parents

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And the follow up panel below...

Un-Realistic 6 Year Old Wisdom

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Calvin's Ingenuity

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Calvin's Wisdom

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An Awesome Mom

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Hobbes

But of course, the very best part of the strip is the amazing Hobbes, a stuffed tiger who comes to life for Calvin and who has, among many incredible qualities, one fierce pounce!

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Do you have a favorite Calvin & Hobbes strip?  If not, do yourself a favor this weekend and pick up a book of your own.

Twitter and Facebook will be waiting for you when you're done.

* Note - for those of you Far Side fans, I don't consider that comic a "strip" but a panel.  Fabulous, yes.  But it can't be the best strip because it's not in the same category.  At least, that's my story and I'm sticking with it!