Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for December 21, 2019

Hamster Huey might be going through puberty.

Nothing sure beats Mabel Syrup’s “Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie.”

I saw this coming with my kid, and started off with a made up story every evening so I could ring in some variation. That worked until gramma brought him some age appropriate books and read them to him. As soon as she was gone, I was on the hook. I can still recite “Rocks in my Socks”, “Never Tease a Weasel” and several others.

It’s great fun to slip little edits into the kids’ books when reading them at bedtime. All my kids loved correcting me, and of course I was surprised and embarrassed for making such ridiculous mistakes.

Calvin, not every one likes Hamster Huey and sometimes you just have to expand your horizons.

Or retiring and moving to Florida by the fourth page. And the rest of the pages are blank.

What? They don’t have Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch stole Christmas”?

For some reason a little song from my childhood jumped into my head this morning. I think Calvin would like it:

“I was served some green gooey gopher guts

Little Birdies bloody feet

Mutilated monkey meat

All wrapped up in a hot dog bun

Yum, Yum, Yum”.

Anyone else remember that?

I had to read “beach day” every night. As hard as I tried to skip a page here or there they were onto any change. My girls are both in their thirties & they still remind me about how much they loved this simple story and have brought me a new copy to read to my grandchildren. Sometimes simple pleasures just never end.

Hamster Huey has many talents.

LOL! Hamster Huey was in a hurry tonight!

I’m sorry that book was accidentally maliciously destroyed.

Should have called his bluff. Go ahead. Stay awake all night! I’d give him less than an hour. Then out like a light!

My rule was not to read the same story twice in one night.

I read my sons The Hobbit. I was more for my enjoyment than theirs. I did all the different voices. Peter Jackson got it wrong.

I wonder if they ever found Hamster Huey’s head…

My wife read a LOT of books to our children. I read one book, “Peter Graves” to my son, and guess which book is the only one he remembered.

Everyone read Pinkalicious to my Granddaughter so many times that she knew it by heart. She could not read, but would “read” the book as she paged through.

Truly great literature reveals unexpected nuances with repeated readings.

Finished War and Peace already?

My oldest loved Foxes. my wife found a movie called ‘The Fox’. It was some movie made in Russia and was dubbed by bad English but he loved that movie. The day he outgrew it was cause for celebration,

When people complain to me that romances and other popular genre novels are all the same, I tell them to think back to their childhood love of one particular book at bedtime. Genre is comfort food for the heart and mind.

My four-year-old granddaughter will sometimes ask me to read the same story three, four, or five times in a row. Go figure. Unlike “Dad,” I’m glad to do it. They grow up so fast.

Thus the reason for the book Go the F—- To Sleep

I’d sure like to read Hamster Huey, myself!

My oldest niece (then 3-4, now 6) went through a Winnie the Pooh phase and had a Pooh book read to her many times. Then during her quiet time, she would “read” it aloud—it was half memorization (she has an amazing memory) and half using the pictures. I have two or three recordings of her little stories. It’s so fascinating to watch their little minds at work.

“Here’s a touchin’ story. Once upon a time you died, and I lived happily ever after. The end.”

Methinks Calvin is ready for a nice Lovecraft short story. That’ll teach him!

My folks weren’t into that story jazz… it was say your prayers & go to bed. Really can’t blame themhaving 5 brats ..you wouldn’t be dealing w/ any bedtime stories either! Lol :^))

Yup—Hamster Huey makes me smile whenever I see (or hear) him in C&H. Fun stuff.