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Age Happens: Garfield Hits the Big 4-0
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!
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?
Join the party, as celebrity cartoonists and fans alike pay homage to the famous feline. Even Broadway legend Lin-Manuel Miranda gets into the act by composing the book's foreword.
This commemorative collection of birthday comic strips--plus a ton of other festive fun--is a gift for Garfield fans of all ages!
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?
Join the party, as celebrity cartoonists and fans alike pay homage to the famous feline. Even Broadway legend Lin-Manuel Miranda gets into the act by composing the book's foreword.
This commemorative collection of birthday comic strips--plus a ton of other festive fun--is a gift for Garfield fans of all ages!
160 pages, Hardcover
First published June 19, 2018
56 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Jim Davis
2,371 books642 followersJames Robert "Jim" Davis is an American cartoonist who created the popular comic strip Garfield. Other comics that he has worked on are Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, Slapstick, and a strip about Mr. Potato Head.
Jim Davis was born in Fairmount, Indiana, near Marion, where he grew up on a small farm with his father James William Davis, mother Anna Catherine (Carter) Davis, brother Dave, and 25 cats. Davis' childhood on a farm parallels the life of his cartoon character Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon, too, is a cartoonist, and also celebrates his birthday on July 28. Davis attended Ball State University. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity. He earned the dubious honor of earning one of the lowest cumulative grade point averages in the history of the university, an honor incidentally shared with Late Show host David Letterman.
Davis as of 2007 resides in Muncie, Indiana, where he and his staff produce Garfield under his company, Paws, Inc., begun in 1981. He was married to Carolyn, a singer and elementary teacher whom he met while both were attending college, and has a son named James with her. However, the couple divorced, and Davis since 2000 has been married to Jill, Paws' senior vice president of licensing, who has worked there approximately 25 years.
Ironically, Davis did not own cats when he started Garfield because of Carolyn's allergies, but they owned a Labrador retriever named Molly. With Jill, the family has expanded to include children Ashley and Chris; three grandchildren, Chloe, Carly and Cody; cats, Spunky and Nermal; and a dog, Pooky.
Jim Davis was born in Fairmount, Indiana, near Marion, where he grew up on a small farm with his father James William Davis, mother Anna Catherine (Carter) Davis, brother Dave, and 25 cats. Davis' childhood on a farm parallels the life of his cartoon character Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon, too, is a cartoonist, and also celebrates his birthday on July 28. Davis attended Ball State University. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity. He earned the dubious honor of earning one of the lowest cumulative grade point averages in the history of the university, an honor incidentally shared with Late Show host David Letterman.
Davis as of 2007 resides in Muncie, Indiana, where he and his staff produce Garfield under his company, Paws, Inc., begun in 1981. He was married to Carolyn, a singer and elementary teacher whom he met while both were attending college, and has a son named James with her. However, the couple divorced, and Davis since 2000 has been married to Jill, Paws' senior vice president of licensing, who has worked there approximately 25 years.
Ironically, Davis did not own cats when he started Garfield because of Carolyn's allergies, but they owned a Labrador retriever named Molly. With Jill, the family has expanded to include children Ashley and Chris; three grandchildren, Chloe, Carly and Cody; cats, Spunky and Nermal; and a dog, Pooky.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 3, 2021
What a delight this book is! It has the very first Garfield comic strip, continues with selected birthday strips, right up till Garfield turns (gasp!) 40! Also included are tributes from several other cartoonists. Take the quizzes that are included to see just how well you know Garfield. It’s fun from beginning to end. You likely will learn something about Garfield and his creator along the way, and you just might learn something about aging gracefully, too, using Garfield as a role model for what not to do. But really, birthdays are for having fun and eating cake - that’s the Garfield way! Recommended for anyone who wants a good laugh.
December 2, 2019
I love Garfield! Our local library got this and I just had to check it out. I read it a little bit at a time so it would last. There are some strips that reflected stuff about some people in my life so I'm thinking this will be a present for a couple people! Now I'm ready to go back and read some of my older books!
June 16, 2018
A fun look back at Garfield throughout the years, plus some extras thrown in here and there.
October 7, 2018
My favorite cartoon strip is either Garfield or The Peanuts. When I saw this book, I had to read it. Garfield is a timeless classic!
I Hate Monday’s!
I Hate Monday’s!
February 7, 2020
Never fails to make me smile.
June 24, 2023
Hey, so it’s possible to grow up enjoying Calvin + Hobbes and Garfield. And to revisit both later. This is a fine retrospective collection for the antithesis of what’s still considered the modern comic form’s zenith. And proves all over again you can be opposite and yet, yes, equal.
January 29, 2019
I laughed so hard with this book! This book features Garfield's birthday comics throughout his 40 years. What I really enjoyed was the kids and adult drawings of Garfield wishing him a Happy Birthday. The drawings and comics others drew of him from all over the world were really cool and neat. I also loved how other famous cartoonists ALSO dedicated their Garfield art/comics to Garfield too. It showed the picture of the artist/cartoonist and their comic of something Garfield but keeping in mind their own comic strip too. Overall a really neat 40th anniversary book for all Garfield lovers!
October 29, 2018
What is not to like?
It's Garfield!
Garfield remains one of my favorite cat characters -- EVER. Is it the sarcasm? The jokes on Odie? His hatred 0f Mondays? His love of lasagna? His love of sleep? Food?
Or perhaps, all of the above?
This Garfield birthday book was a hilarious and entertaining look back at Garfield through the years.
It's Garfield!
Garfield remains one of my favorite cat characters -- EVER. Is it the sarcasm? The jokes on Odie? His hatred 0f Mondays? His love of lasagna? His love of sleep? Food?
Or perhaps, all of the above?
This Garfield birthday book was a hilarious and entertaining look back at Garfield through the years.
January 11, 2019
I grew up loving Garfield. We both like naps and lasagna and we share a birthday, though he's older. My mom has one of his early birthday comic strips in my baby book. I like the addition of fan art.
April 24, 2023
I admit that I was drawn to this collection because the foreword is written by one of my favorites, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is apparently also a Garfield fan. The foreword was as delightful as I was expecting. Jim Davis even includes a fun surprise in the segment.
This collection features forty years of Garfield, mostly focusing on the various birthdays he’s had over the years in the form of particular strips—all in full color. We get to see Garfield from the beginning all the way to his fortieth year in 2018. There are also some trivia and other fun pages scattered here and there.
I particularly liked seeing some of Jim Davis’ favorite strips over the years as well as drawn birthday wishes from other cartoonists. A wonderful addition for any Garfield fan!
This collection features forty years of Garfield, mostly focusing on the various birthdays he’s had over the years in the form of particular strips—all in full color. We get to see Garfield from the beginning all the way to his fortieth year in 2018. There are also some trivia and other fun pages scattered here and there.
I particularly liked seeing some of Jim Davis’ favorite strips over the years as well as drawn birthday wishes from other cartoonists. A wonderful addition for any Garfield fan!
November 10, 2018
Garfield siempre será mi historieta favorita (a pesar de que a veces pase épocas pensando que su humor actual ha perdido la capacidad de salirse de la rutina y que su personalidad ha sido demasiado manoseada en tarjetas Hallmark y demás). Este libro es una joyita por muchas razones, los cumpleaños de Garfield siempre han sido todo un evento dentro de la tira y eso se agradece. Ver muchas de las caricaturas que en algún momento de la vida recorté del periódico, pinté y guardé en mi colección personal me trajo bonitos recuerdos. Y además de todo, compartimos la misma edad, cosa que resulta útil, ahora tengo muchas formas ingeniosas de contestar todas esas bromas que se vienen por cumplir 40!
March 29, 2020
Quick impressions. A collection of Garfield birthday strips celebrating his 40th birthday. You get from the first birthday strip to the fortieth. In addition, book has additional sections with guest strips by other cartoon artists celebrating Garfield, a gallery of children fan art, and Jim Davis' top 40 strips. Overall, a nice, entertaining volume.
August 1, 2018
Reassess as s a a g GREAT 👍,and I think I can make it was definitely a LOL book,but I don't think you should come to the show,a new study suggests
L u l b o f o f o f o f o f o f o f o f o f o f o for you and you have the series has to go back on a g gr8he and
L u l b o f o f o f o f o f o f o f o f o f o f o for you and you have the series has to go back on a g gr8he and
February 3, 2020
Garfield is just a good ol' nice and cozy thing for me I enjoy the consistency and how he's just been the same cat i know and love since 1978 its not the most deep or thought provoking thing but I just like the flabby tabby
July 10, 2018
I adored this book!!!
July 19, 2018
I needed to laugh.
January 18, 2020
It was cute for sure
March 9, 2023
This is pure nostalgia for me. I love and adore Garfield with my whole heart, but I realize this may not be for everyone.
May 22, 2018
Completely consistent
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews