By Clive King and Giovanetti (Macmillan)
No ISBN Library of Congress catalog card number: 57-11517
Pericle Luigi Giovanetti was a huge star in the cartoon firmament in the years following World War II, and a prolific one who appealed to fans of all ages. Born in 1916 in Basel, he launched Max in Punch in April 1953. Max is a small, round furry creature most likened to a hamster, whose wordless pantomimes were both cute and whimsical and trenchantly self-deprecating. Don’t ask me how a beautifully rendered little puff-ball could stand for pride and pomposity punctured, but he did. It was also blissfully free of mawkish sentimentality, a funny animal for adults.
Max was syndicated across the world, and celebrities the likes of Charles (‘Peanuts‘) Schulz were huge fans. The British Navy and even the Swiss Air Force impressed the ambiguous little hairball as mascot and figurehead. There were four collections between 1954 and 1961: Max, Max Presents, Nothing But Max and The Penguin Max.
For all his trenchant ability to convey meaning without uttering a sound, Max’s origins – and indeed species – was a subject of much dispute in the four corners of the globe so this delightful children’s book written by Clive King and copiously, wonderfully illustrated by Giovanetti is a godsend to zoologists and lovers of great storytelling everywhere. Long out of print it recounts the peripatetic wanderings of Max’s Great-Grandfather Hamid who lived in a hole in a hill in the desert region of Aleppo.
At least he did under the wanderlust seized him and he went in search of adventure, friends and the secret of his own identity. An irresistible and charming tale from a period where whimsy was a desirable treasure, this meanders along doling out equal amounts of exoticism and mystery from the mystic East – which wouldn’t go far amiss in today’s troubled and intolerant times.
A sheer delight, this isn’t the easiest book to find – ‘though it should be – so if you’re burning to discover Hamid – and Max’s – close kept secret I’ll reveal it here. If you don’t want to know look away now.
Max and Hamid are Syrian Golden Hamsters!
© 1958 The Macmillan Company. All Rights Reserved.