The water ripples around the luxurious ocean liner. A gentle breeze blows in from the sea. On deck, a little white dog and a European boy with a funny tuft of hair enjoy the whole scene. They of course are the famous boy reporter, Tintin, and Snowy, his pet dog, in one of their first adventures, The Cigars of the Pharaoh. If you’ve read this book you know peace won’t last for long ! Tintin will be accused of being a drug smuggler and from that point on, you will not be able to put this Tintin down! Tintin and his dog, Snowy, will go though many perils before the book is through .

Snowy, Tintin’s inseparable friend, will do whatever Tintin does. If Tintin fights, Snowy fights. If Tintin is in trouble, then Snowy is, too. Snowy is never perturbed with his master at his side. He sees Tintin as his friend and master and refuses to be without him. Tintin, too, refuses to be separated from Snowy and takes him everywhere. When Tintin is supposedly dead, Snowy is heartbroken and refuses to leave his master’s tomb. But when Tintin is found to be alive, it is as if Snowy is alive again. Somehow Tintin would not be complete with out Snowy, and Snowy would not be complete without Tintin.
Snowy, too, takes in the whole scope on board the ocean liner but is bored by it. The little Terrier is not amused by the cool breeze ruffling his fur nor by the relaxing movement of the liner. No, he pines for adventure. And he’ll get a nose full of it! Desperate for water, he will wander through deserts, get locked in a Pharaohs tomb, sent to the bottom of the sea in a coffin with Tintin , put in a house for the mad with Tintin, and get rescued from being sacrificed! Finally, he gets a well-earned rest in the Maharaja of Gaipajama’s palace, playing with his son.

Now to the twins, Thomson and Thompson, who are sent to arrest Tintin on charges of drug smuggling (Tintin of course is innocent!) Tintin escapes from them but through the rest of the book, they’ll rest at nothing to get him back. They trace him to the sea and try in vain to capture him. They follow him to the desert and even go so far as to save his life so they can arrest him. They even rescue Snowy’s life so he can help them find Tintin! The twin’s favorite saying is, “To be precise.” But whenever they use the word, they use it very imprecisely. But even though they try to arrest Tintin almost all through the book (until the end, to be precise,), they start a friendship with Tintin and Snowy. Through the other books, you will often see them as their companions.

I invite you to read The Cigars of the Pharaoh , or any Tintin book you can find. I invite you to sail to far off lands, to meet kings and Aztec sun-kings and noble sachems. I invite you to climb icy mountains and walk through the hot desert. I invite you to fight dangerous drug smugglers and forgers and even revolutionists, and to land on the MOON! I guarantee you’ll like it!