It's like a lot of other calculus books I have, only polychromatic, difficult to read, and gives me this slightly creepy face every now and then. I mean, it seems solid, but it's just really hard to read.

Really, my favorite gentle calculus textbook has been one I recently was Thompson's "Calculus Made Easy." The way it's written is informal by the standards of when it was written, but to a modern eye reads like your whimsical grandpa decided to bust out a pipe, an expensive brandy, and serious calc knowledge.