What do you think?
Rate this book
Peanuts Parade / Peanuts Classics
My anxieties have anxieties: Cartoons from You're you, Charlie Brown and You've had it, Charlie Brown
A look at the joys and anxieties in the lives of Charlie Brown and his friends.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
About the author
Charles M. Schulz
3,035 books1,654 followersCharles Monroe Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.
Schulz's first regular cartoons, Li'l Folks, were published from 1947 to 1950 by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; he first used the name Charlie Brown for a character there, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys and one buried in sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy. In 1948, Schulz sold a cartoon to The Saturday Evening Post; the first of 17 single-panel cartoons by Schulz that would be published there. In 1948, Schulz tried to have Li'l Folks syndicated through the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Schulz would have been an independent contractor for the syndicate, unheard of in the 1940s, but the deal fell through. Li'l Folks was dropped from the Pioneer Press in January, 1950.
Later that year, Schulz approached the United Feature Syndicate with his best strips from Li'l Folks, and Peanuts made its first appearance on October 2, 1950. The strip became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. He also had a short-lived sports-oriented comic strip called It's Only a Game (1957–1959), but he abandoned it due to the demands of the successful Peanuts. From 1956 to 1965 he contributed a single-panel strip ("Young Pillars") featuring teenagers to Youth, a publication associated with the Church of God.
Peanuts ran for nearly 50 years, almost without interruption; during the life of the strip, Schulz took only one vacation, a five-week break in late 1997. At its peak, Peanuts appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. Schulz stated that his routine every morning consisted of eating a jelly donut and sitting down to write the day's strip. After coming up with an idea (which he said could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours), he began drawing it, which took about an hour for dailies and three hours for Sunday strips. He stubbornly refused to hire an inker or letterer, saying that "it would be equivalent to a golfer hiring a man to make his putts for him." In November 1999 Schulz suffered a stroke, and later it was discovered that he had colon cancer that had metastasized. Because of the chemotherapy and the fact he could not read or see clearly, he announced his retirement on December 14, 1999.
Schulz often touched on religious themes in his work, including the classic television cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), which features the character Linus van Pelt quoting the King James Version of the Bible Luke 2:8-14 to explain "what Christmas is all about." In personal interviews Schulz mentioned that Linus represented his spiritual side. Schulz, reared in the Lutheran faith, had been active in the Church of God as a young adult and then later taught Sunday school at a United Methodist Church. In the 1960s, Robert L. Short interpreted certain themes and conversations in Peanuts as being consistent with parts of Christian theology, and used them as illustrations during his lectures about the gospel, as he explained in his bestselling paperback book, The Gospel According to Peanuts, the first of several books he wrote on religion and Peanuts, and other popular culture items. From the late 1980s, however, Schulz described himself in interviews as a "secular humanist": “I do not go to church anymore... I guess you might say I've come around to secular humanism, an obligation I believe all humans have to others and the world we live in.”
Schulz's first regular cartoons, Li'l Folks, were published from 1947 to 1950 by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; he first used the name Charlie Brown for a character there, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys and one buried in sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy. In 1948, Schulz sold a cartoon to The Saturday Evening Post; the first of 17 single-panel cartoons by Schulz that would be published there. In 1948, Schulz tried to have Li'l Folks syndicated through the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Schulz would have been an independent contractor for the syndicate, unheard of in the 1940s, but the deal fell through. Li'l Folks was dropped from the Pioneer Press in January, 1950.
Later that year, Schulz approached the United Feature Syndicate with his best strips from Li'l Folks, and Peanuts made its first appearance on October 2, 1950. The strip became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. He also had a short-lived sports-oriented comic strip called It's Only a Game (1957–1959), but he abandoned it due to the demands of the successful Peanuts. From 1956 to 1965 he contributed a single-panel strip ("Young Pillars") featuring teenagers to Youth, a publication associated with the Church of God.
Peanuts ran for nearly 50 years, almost without interruption; during the life of the strip, Schulz took only one vacation, a five-week break in late 1997. At its peak, Peanuts appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. Schulz stated that his routine every morning consisted of eating a jelly donut and sitting down to write the day's strip. After coming up with an idea (which he said could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours), he began drawing it, which took about an hour for dailies and three hours for Sunday strips. He stubbornly refused to hire an inker or letterer, saying that "it would be equivalent to a golfer hiring a man to make his putts for him." In November 1999 Schulz suffered a stroke, and later it was discovered that he had colon cancer that had metastasized. Because of the chemotherapy and the fact he could not read or see clearly, he announced his retirement on December 14, 1999.
Schulz often touched on religious themes in his work, including the classic television cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), which features the character Linus van Pelt quoting the King James Version of the Bible Luke 2:8-14 to explain "what Christmas is all about." In personal interviews Schulz mentioned that Linus represented his spiritual side. Schulz, reared in the Lutheran faith, had been active in the Church of God as a young adult and then later taught Sunday school at a United Methodist Church. In the 1960s, Robert L. Short interpreted certain themes and conversations in Peanuts as being consistent with parts of Christian theology, and used them as illustrations during his lectures about the gospel, as he explained in his bestselling paperback book, The Gospel According to Peanuts, the first of several books he wrote on religion and Peanuts, and other popular culture items. From the late 1980s, however, Schulz described himself in interviews as a "secular humanist": “I do not go to church anymore... I guess you might say I've come around to secular humanism, an obligation I believe all humans have to others and the world we live in.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 27, 2022
Yes so the obvious theme of this one is anxiety, it is consistent in the majority of this collection. Highlights include Lucy's persistent search for the meaning of life. Lucy finally kicking Schroeder's piano out of the way so he will pay attention to her and Linus' revered loyalty to Ms. Othmar. In a time of my life where I am grappling with anxiety this was a nice decompressing cure...if only temporarily. Pick it up if you can find it, these are a little on the rare side but it's worth it. Thank you for reading.
January 10, 2020
Absolutely hilarious! I loved it!
November 19, 2015
My Anxieties Have Anxieties introduces one new character to the Peanuts world: Franklin. Franklin is an African-American boy who visits Charlie Brown's block and decides that it is full of weirdoes. It has been a few years since I sat down and read a Peanuts book as I have been spending a lot of time reviewing DelRey Manga books.
I was quite happy when I cracked open My Anxieties Have Anxieties and started reading about these very familiar characters. It was like putting on a favorite coat that I haven't worn in years. Although I was very familiar with all the comic strips in this book, it was still nice to read them again. The creations of Charles M. Schulz were a large part of my life growing up as I read the books I owned over and over again. I love the entire Peanuts gang and they will be with me the rest of my life.
So, if you are looking for a few laughs, pick up a copy of My Anxieties Have Anxieties. You can generally find it on eBay, since it no longer in print. Just look up "Peanuts Parade."
I was quite happy when I cracked open My Anxieties Have Anxieties and started reading about these very familiar characters. It was like putting on a favorite coat that I haven't worn in years. Although I was very familiar with all the comic strips in this book, it was still nice to read them again. The creations of Charles M. Schulz were a large part of my life growing up as I read the books I owned over and over again. I love the entire Peanuts gang and they will be with me the rest of my life.
So, if you are looking for a few laughs, pick up a copy of My Anxieties Have Anxieties. You can generally find it on eBay, since it no longer in print. Just look up "Peanuts Parade."
December 22, 2014
The plot is riveting. . .another chapter in an exhilarating series with solid characters in an intriguing new world. Continues the popular trend these days of a dramatic series with a healthy dose of laugh-out loud humor.
December 23, 2008
A great collection of Charlie Brown comic strips. You have to feel for the poor guy as he struggles through this collection of Peanuts classic comic strips.
July 27, 2017
Love the Peanuts!
April 11, 2017
I just love Peanuts so much!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews