"Lordy, Lordy, Look Who is 40!!" Cat Book: "Age Happens GARFIELD Hits The Big 4-0" By Jim Davis (And Give-Away!)

Yep it's true I have been cutting down the number of book reviews I am doing on the blog, but when I was contacted last week asking if I would feature "Age Happens: Garfield Hits The Big 4-0" by Jim Davis, there isn't a CHANCE I would pass that up, not for all of the lasagna in the world!!!

Courtesy of Penguinrandomhouse

Growing up as the daughter of a cartoonist, I probably read all sorts of comics at a much younger age than most. I remember reading Peanuts first, and then, when I was older, I fell in love with Garfield.

"The GARFIELD comic strip was born on June 19, 1978, syndicated in

forty-one U.S. newspapers. Today it’s syndicated in more than 2,100
newspapers worldwide with more than 200 million readers,
leading Guinness World Records to name GARFIELD The Most Widely
Syndicated Comic Strip in the World."

I was surprised to learn that the strip started in 1978 because I had thought it was much earlier than that! Back in 1978 (for you youngsters that was the stone-age), I was in my last year of college (I was on the 5 year plan), I had yet to have a cat of my own, but  was completely OBSESSED with cats after finding a calico kitten in our backyard. I also  became OBSESSED with Garfield from the moment I first met him.  I fell in love with Garfield's snarky, crotchety, curmudgeonly personality and felt he was an extension of myself! (I have always said that Garfield was the ORIGINAL "Grumpy Cat" and I have ALWAYS preferred him!).

Lin-Manuel Miranda summed up Garfield purrfectly in his foreward: "Then there's the character of Garfield himself, an ironic, detached cat who is mean to everyone and somehow all the more lovable for it. Able to poke fun at everyone around him, the coolest person in the room at all times, yet just as often be the butt of the joke, the victim of the universe. There was no question that he ran Jon Arbuckle's household in that way real cats do." 

Garfield could say and do whatever he wanted and get away with it! It is also ironic that some of my favorite Garfield cartoons featured Garfield and Odie (the dufus, tongue-hanging out dog that allowed Garfield to completely rule him), never did I dream that I would have a cat and a dog one day myself. (Hmmmm, could my love of Garfield be the reason I LOVE Tabby cats? Could be!) Like millions of others I had a stuffed Garfield in my car that I drove with for many, many years!

AGE HAPPENS 

GARFIELD

HITS THE BIG 4-0

The big year is finally here!

 Garfield, the original party animal, is aging disgracefully and celebrating wildly! Hey, what do you expect from the mischievous fat cat who is so good at being bad?

Courtesy of Randomhouse Books

Celebrate forty years!

 of Garfield with this lavish, full-color collection featuring classic strips, guest cartoonists, fan art, and a foreword by lifelong Garfield lover Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of Hamilton!

Join the party!

 as celebrity cartoonists, (such as Dean Young, "Blondie", John Rose, "Snuffy Smith", Mort Walker, "Beetle Bailey",  Mason Mastroianni from John Hart Studios creators of "B.C.",  Scott Ketchum (son of Hank Ketchum the creator of "Dennis the Menace"),  and fans alike , as they pay homage to the famous feline. The fan art is some of the best I have ever seen. The contributors range in ages from children to adults! 

Courtesy of Penguinrandomhouse

"This commemorative collection of birthday comic strips—plus a ton of other festive fun—is a gift for Garfield fans of all ages!" This is a book that you will want to PROUDLY display on your coffee table!

Did you know?

• Garfield has 17 million
Facebook fans!
• Garfield holds the Guinness
World Record as the most
widely syndicated comic strip
in the world!

My Favorite Quotes from the book:

"I'm not old. I've just been young a long time."

"I'm not getting old. I'm just naturally crotchety."

"I'm too old to grow up"

"life is uncertain, eat dessert first!"

I didn't know:

that Garfield's "look" or the way he was drawn by Jim Davis evolved through the years!? Being artistic, I was embarrassed that I had never noticed that Jim Davis changed the look of Garfield from a fatter cat with teeny eyes to the Garfield that we know and love today. It's all shown in the book!

FROM THE PUBLISHER:In support of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work with literacy and Penguin Random House’s own commitment to social responsibility, Random House will donate 1600 copies of Age Happens in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s name to PRIME TIME, a non-profit founded by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities that supports children and families in inter-generational family reading and discussion. These books will be distributed, in partnership with the National Humanities Alliance, to families in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Washington, and Louisiana, at more than 80 PRIME TIME family programs throughout Fall 2018.

Courtesy of Penguinrandomhouse

ABOUT JIM DAVIS
"Jim Davis was born on July 28, 1945, in Marion, Indiana. He later
attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he
distinguished himself by earning one of the lowest
cumulative grade point averages in the history of the university.  Davis has had many
successes with Garfield, including four Emmy Awards for
Outstanding Animated Program and induction into the
Licensing Hall of Fame (1998), but his most prized awards are
from his peers in the National Cartoonist Society: Best Humor
Strip (1981 and 1985), the Elzie Segar Award (1990), and the
coveted Reuben Award (1990) for overall excellence in cartooning.
©Paws. All Rights Reserved." FROM CAT CHAT WITH CAREN AND CODY: Jim was born under the sign of Leo so no wonder he created a cartoon cat LOADED WITH STAR POWER!!!

THANK YOU JIM DAVIS!!
for creating Garfield, the coolest, most crotchety, lovable, and cherished cat on the planet! (In our humble opinion! Any kitty that thinks that "Hello Kitty" isn't his type, is ok in our book!!!)

AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARFIELD!!!

Thanks for making me laugh and smile for 40 years!!! I made a lasagna in your honor!!!  (It is actually ravioli lasagna and I got the recipe from my dear friend  Monika at Tails Around the Ranch, but it's still lasagna and I made it for YOU!!)

AGE HAPPENS: GARFIELD HITS THE BIG 4-0 by Jim Davis; Foreword by Lin-Manuel Miranda A Ballantine Hardcover | ISBN: 9780345526090 | eISBN: 9780525618782 | $28.00 | p. 160

If you love Garfield as much as I do, you MUST HAVE this collector's item that is chock full of cartoons from previous birthdays and sooooo much more! We give it 4 PAWS UP! Hurry and buy a copy and enter our:

GIVE-AWAY!!!
Our friends at Randomhouse Publishing are kindly offering ONE of our readers who is 18 and over and WHO RESIDES IN THE U.S. a copy of "Age Happens: Garfield Hits The Big 4-0" of their own! (a $28 value)........entering is easy, just leave a comment below that:
1) Wishes Garfield a Happy 40th
2) States that you wish to enter the give-away
If you do not do BOTH tasks, you will not be entered!!!

The comments that complete the above requirements will be entered at random.org who will select the winner. The winner  will be announced on or around June 28, 2018.

FTC DISCLOSURE:  I was not compensated for this review. I was sent a copy of "Age Happens: Garfield Hits The Big 4-0" by Jim Davis, in exchange for my always honest review.