Amusing cartoons about the first year of a baby's life and the toll it takes on the parents. Very relatable.

For the faint of heart: Babies have genitals, and so do mothers, and they breastfeed to boot. Go figure.

And, hey, there's a familiar shaggy dog named Farley on page 43. ( )

Prior to her success with "For Better or For Worse", Lynn Johnston published a few books of cartoons for pregnancy through the terrible two's. This one covers the first 12 months of parenthood. The cartoons are all funny and charming; I think my favorite is the one with the stern-looking father checking in all directions before talking baby talk to his baby. Lynn later used this idea for one of her better FBOFW strips. If I remember correctly, I gave Bruce and Gail Barth a set of these books when they had their first child some 30 years ago. I'll have to track down an extra set to give my boys when they become parents some day. ( )

Before she began writing For Better or For Worse, Lynn Johnston wrote a series of single panel strips focused on pregancy and the first years of parenthood. Hi Mom! Hi Dad! is one hundred and one strips that highlight the first twelve months of parenthood. Although the characters in the strips are not the pattersons who would feature in Johnston's later work, the situations and style of comedy will be familiar to anyone who has ever read For Better or For Worse.

The strips are little vignettes concerning the ups and downs of parenting an infant, and as one might expect they are often more than a little cloying as a result of their sickly sweetness. Some of the strips, concerning out of touch fathers, overbearing grandmothers with plenty of child rearing advice, and overly enthusiastic siblings are a little dated in execution, but the themes they touch on are universal enough that they are still relevant enough to be funny. More or less equal parts sappy and touching, the strips are probably only truly funny to those who have had young children, but whose children have grown up enough that the frustrations of sleepless nights, vomit, and diaper changes are behind therm.

As noted before, there are only one hundred and one strips in the book, so it is quite short. That is probably a good thing, because too much more would probably provide enough syrupy sweetness to turn any reader into a diabetic. However, for anyone who is curious to see the ideas that became the long-running For Better or For Worse comic strip in embryonic form, this book is worth a quick read.

This review has also been posted to my blog Dreaming About Other Worlds. ( )