A Shtinky Little Christmas

Finished December 28
A Shtinky Little Christmas by Patrick McDonnell

This short collection of cartoons is from Mutts and depicts the story of the young cat Shtinky. The cat Mooch finds Shtinky in a garbage can, lost and hungry. He and Earl discuss the situation, ask the young cat some questions, give him a name and take him home. At home, the humans note that this cat is missing and a reward is offered and call up the owner, but Shtinky feels guilty about causing his rescuers trouble and makes an escape. Earl and Mooch go after him, and get lost themselves until they find someone who helps bring them all home and all is well. A nice little collection from my favourite comic strip.

Dog-Eared

Finished August 16
Dog-Eared by Patrick McDonnell

I love Mutts, and this one is a particularly good collection. I like the play on words in the title comic. The humour throughout is good, but he also includes more serious topics like animal welfare on a regular basis.

Guardians of Being

Finished August 12
Guardians of Being, words by Eckhart Tolle, art by Patrick McDonnell

I picked this one up because I'm a huge Mutts fan. It is a short, thoughtful book that encourages you to be in the moment, showing how our animals can help us remember to no think, but to be. McDonnell's art is wonderful, of course, and some of it is from previous work in his Mutts series, as our the characters used. A reminder of what is important in life, and how to take the time to enjoy life for what it is. Just like his comic art predecessor Charles Schultz, McDonnell reminds us with the help of Tolle's words that happiness is indeed a warm puppy (or in my case a purring cat).
A nice little book.

Funny Book

Finished August 3
Simon's Cat by Simon Tofield
I first saw Simon's cat in this video, and loved it. This book was given to me by a friend for my birthday and I really enjoyed reading it (and will be sure to reread several times).
I think the pictures speak for themselves.

More animals

Finished October 15
Mutts Shelter Stories by Patrick McDonnell
I've always loved the comic strip Mutts and this collection of his strips around animal shelters and the animals that need homes is no exception. The strips are intermixed with pictures and captions regarding real animals that were adopted from shelters and thus is very inspiring. I already have two cats that I adopted from shelters, and was tempted to go out to my nearby shelter for more.

Odd Little Comic

Finished September 1
The Super Crazy Cat Dance by Aron Nels Steinke
This neat little comic was waiting for me when I returned from holidays, part of my Indiespensable package (a neat service from Powell's bookstore in Portland, Oregon).
As the cover says, this comic is for kids and grownups alike. It is cute, happy, and fun, and both I and my husband enjoyed it.
All in black and white, the drawings are simple, but animated. Printed on recycled paper with soy inks, it is also environmentally friendly.