Rare is the person who does not love the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes,” penned by cartoonist Bill Watterson, syndicated in the United States between 1985 and 1995, and the subject of more than 30 million books published over the last 30 years. This highly entertaining, mordant, insightful cartoon recounts the antics of a particularly clever, mischievous, six year-old boy called Calvin and his particularly thoughtful, playful, stuffed tiger named Hobbes. Most people can recall at least one episode involving Calvin and Hobbes which will always bring a laugh.
Students look at and comment on the creations of their peers who participated in the Calvin and Hobbes at the LFNY comic strip challenge.
My own favorite is the one in which Calvin identifies a challenge which all great schools take up, that of helping each student to fulfill his or her own potential and to nurture what makes him or her unique. One day, Calvin brings a snowflake to class and declares the following to his classmates: “Today for show and tell I’ve brought a tiny marvel of nature: a snowflake./I think we might all learn a lesson from how this utterly unique and exquisite crystal…/…turns into an ordinary, boring molecule of water, just like every other one, when you bring it into the classroom./And now, while the analogy sinks in, I’ll be leaving you drips, and going outside.” And then the reader “hears” the voice of an invisible person, most likely the teacher, calling out “CALVIN!”
50 Student Participants
Well, I am delighted to confirm something which the Lycee Francais de New York community already knows: at our school, there is no chance that the magnificent snowflakes which our students most certainly are could ever become the uniform drops of water which young Calvin decries. Of course, we develop the values, knowledge and skills which we believe our students should have common, but we also do our utmost to cultivate the qualities and interests which distinguish each one, as a splendid initiative undertaken by our library department over the past 10 weeks so brilliantly demonstrates.
Awards for the best cartoonists.
Inspired by the fact that Bill Watterson presided over the “Festival international de la bande dessinee d’Angouleme” this past January, arguably the most prestigious festival of cartoons, comic strips and graphic stories on the planet, Head of Library Science Damien Renon, Primary School Librarian Claire Balas, and Secondary School Librarians Maud Leger and Caroline Jan mobilized some 50 students to take part in a flawlessly designed and organized competition. To enter, the latter were asked to compose a comic strip of three to five boxes, created by hand or computer, in French or in English. Its theme? Calvin and Hobbes at the LFNY.
The results were terrific. Without exception, participants drew comic strips of remarkable creativity, intelligence and wit, mixed with that special sensitivity to language and culture which characterizes our students. Deep gratitude to Mr. Renon, Ms. Balas, Mr. Leger and Ms. Jan, as well as to the teachers who generously volunteered their time as judges, for the outstanding encouragement, guidance and recognition with which they provided our budding artists. To appreciate our students’ talents for yourselves, do not hesitate to visit the Calvin and Hobbes at the LFNY exhibition taking place in our Primary School Library. And in the meanwhile, as uplifting evidence of the snowflakes in our midst, please find below samples of their winning entries (click on an image to see each comic strip in full).
Andreas (CM2) et Vadim (5ème):
Jeanne (CM2):
Tarek and Maxence (CE2):
Marie (4ème):
Vera (CM1):
James (5ème):
Elfreda (CM1):
To view all of our students’ drawings, kindly go on the Primary Blog (password-protected).
About the Author :
Sean Lynch was Head of School at the Lycée Français de New York from 2011 to 2018, after having spent 15 years at another French bilingual school outside of Paris: the Lycée International de St. Germain-en-Laye. Holding both French and American nationalities, educated in France (Sciences Po Paris) and the United States (Yale), and as the proud husband of a French-American spouse and father of two French-American daughters, Sean Lynch has spent his entire professional and personal life at the junction between the languages, cultures and educational systems of France and the United States. In addition to being passionate about education, he loves everything related to the mountains, particularly the Parc National du Mercantour.