As a kid in school, we used to have the Scholastic book orders and there were two series I ordered every book from. The first was the Little House on the Prairie series. The second was the Garfield series. I really loved reading the little vignettes and they were a good escape for me. I think part of it was that I just loved cats, and Jim Davis had a knack for capturing the behaviour of cats in a way that explained it to very young readers.

I also loved the Garfield cartoon specials. I had them all (recorded on VHS, of course, from the TV), so when the opportunity came to share Garfield with the Poptart, I immediately said “yes”.

The other weekend (when I wasn’t feeling well), I popped The Garfield Show: Dinosaurs & Other Animal Adventures video in the DVD player. The menu screen shows a few scrolling scenes from the six episodes on the disc so she was able to pick one that interested her.

We started the episode and she was immediately entranced. Although the cartoons are no longer hand-drawn, and I don’t think Jim Davis has much to do with it, the antics of Garfield, Odie and their friends bring back a lot of fun memories. And the fact that I can share this with my daughter means a lot to me.

The best part is that she seems to love Garfield as much as I did. She’ll ask to see the video or part of it about once a day.

And for you, I have a copy of the video to give away. Just leave a comment by January 31 answering the question, “What’s the thing from your childhood you wish you could share with a small person in your life (or a big person, if you have no small people)?

Open to people with a Canadian or US mailing address. Winner will be picked at random with the “And the winner is” plugin.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of the DVD for review purposes. All opinions are my own.