Tag: comic strips

Marshmallow reviews Everything Here is Mine by Nicole Hollander

Today Marshmallow reviews Everything Here is Mine: An Unhelpful Guide to Cat Behavior. Originally published in 1992, this is a book of comic strips by the amazing cartoonist Nicole Hollander, whose daily comic strip Sylvia was enjoyed by many; she passed away in April 2026.

Marshmallow reviews Everything Here is Mine: An Unhelpful Guide to Cat Behavior by Nicole Hollander.
Marshmallow reviews Everything Here is Mine: An Unhelpful Guide to Cat Behavior by Nicole Hollander.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like cats and / or cartoons, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Cats are from space. Specifically, according to Hollander, they are from the planet Hsif. Originally, they arrived during the time of the pyramids and began investigating Earth. Unfortunately, due to a civil war on their home planet, the main cat force had to leave behind several individuals. Budget cats later on prevented return missions so some of the cats were left stranded on our world. This is why cats spit up hairballs; it is an S.O.S. signal. This is merely the beginning of numerous new revelations and lessons about the cat species that you can find in Nicole Hollander’s Everything Here is Mine: An Unhelpful Guide to Cat Behavior.

As you can tell from the title, this book does honestly show how cats dominate their households. In sections labeled by related topics, Hollander gives us insight into what cats like and do not like. The sections are as follows: Cats in Space; Give Me That Wet Food, Baby; Fly Me to the Moon; Cats Who Dress Up; Don’t Lick That Cat; Oh, De Toilette; Slow Dancing With Your Cat; In the Heat of the Night; Vetnophobia; Cats and the Law; After You’re Gone; and more. In each, there are plenty of cartoons like the “Dear Cat Lady,” and “Misconceptions About Cats” columns. These provide some extra humor in what is already a very entertaining book!

Marshmallow is reading Everything Here is Mine: An Unhelpful Guide to Cat Behavior by Nicole Hollander.
Marshmallow is reading Everything Here is Mine: An Unhelpful Guide to Cat Behavior by Nicole Hollander.

Marshmallow’s Review: I thought Everything Here is Mine: An Unhelpful Guide to Cat Behavior was a very funny book. I do not know any cats very well myself, but this definitely furthers a lot of general cultural stereotypes for cats. On the back of the book we meet a cat saying “We rule, but we’re fair…unless you serve us the wrong kind of food.” For many cat owners (or rather cat servants), this might strike a familiar chord. The cartoons are definitely amusing to any and all animals and animal lovers though. I particularly liked the “Heartbreaking Complaints of Cats” section that showed up every now and then. In those, a cat describes its issues to a disembodied voice outside of the panel–which I presume is meant to represent a therapist.

Overall, Everything Here is Mine: An Unhelpful Guide to Cat Behavior is a very fun book that is relatively lighthearted and light to read. It is not very long (less than 140 pages) and has plenty of funny pictures. All bunnies of all ages would enjoy this book, so I would highly recommend reading it if you have the time! It will make you smile even if you might not (yet) be a cat person. 

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Everything Here is Mine: An Unhelpful Guide to Cat Behavior by Nicole Hollander 100%.
Marshmallow rates Everything Here is Mine: An Unhelpful Guide to Cat Behavior by Nicole Hollander 100%.

Marshmallow reviews The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury by Bill Watterson

Marshmallow has been raiding the book bunnies home library because she is at home all day every day these days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today she reviews an old favorite of Sprinkles that she discovered recently among the grownup comic books: The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury by Bill Watterson.

Marshmallow reviews The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury by Bill Watterson.
Marshmallow reviews The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury by Bill Watterson.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like comic books, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Calvin is a six-year-old child who has many adventures with his stuffed tiger Hobbes. Unfortunately, he does not enjoy school and he daydreams about how he is Spaceman Spiff who has been captured by evil aliens who represent his teacher, Mrs. Wormwood. He escapes from school and pretends that it is a matter of life and death. He likes playing these games and has all sorts of adventures.

In Calvin’s mind, Hobbes is alive and his best friend. They are inseparable and are together every moment that they can be.

He pretends that whenever he comes home, Hobbes jumps on him and attacks him. He pretends that he and Hobbes have all sorts of disagreements. He even fights his stuffed tiger. He and Hobbes make many gruesome snowmen when it snows. Some of them are being hung, and some are being buried alive.

Calvin is very entertaining, but he is also very rude and obnoxious. He is a very strange human child (bunnies are never this disagreeable). He is definitely not a good role model. He skips school and is unable to wash himself. He pretends that an evil alien is trying to force him to give it information.

Marshmallow is reading The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury by Bill Watterson.

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a very good book but it is also an older book, and its age shows a bit. It is a little inappropriate for younger children and I do not suggest reading it to a child younger than 9. He says some rude things that are not very nice to some groups of people. It is probably best for ages 9 and up.

Calvin and Hobbes is known as “the last great newspaper comic”, according to Wikipedia. Bill Watterson has created in Calvin a great character that has entertained readers for many years.

The comics are very interesting and thought provoking. When Calvin is asked by Hobbes if he has any New Year resolutions, his response is “No way! I’m already a great person!”

Calvin is also a very strange child. He has a vivid imagination that can be unsettling. He enjoys pretending that he is an all-powerful being that destroys worlds. He builds very complex cities. Then he destroys them. And his parents think that he is being very creative. When he listens to a song about Santa Claus that goes like “He sees you when you’re sleeping, He knows when you’re awake… He knows when you’ve bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!” Calvin stops listening and he says, “Santa Claus: kindly old elf, or CIA spook?” (You can see this comic from 1987 here.)

Marshmallow’s Rating: 90%.

Marshmallow rates The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury by Bill Watterson 90%.
Marshmallow rates The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury by Bill Watterson 90%.