What do you think?
Tenavat #13
It Was A Short Summer, Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown and friends are given an assignment to write about the summer that they had just had. It is difficult but with a little daydreaming they come up with what they did.
47 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
About the author
Charles M. Schulz
3,042 books1,671 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.”
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 8, 2017
Having endured this apology for a 'summer' (and I use the quotation marks advisedly for the word does not mean what it is supposed to do nowadays!) with rain, cloud and all the other miserable weather we have endured, I just had to read a book with this title. At least I now know that Charlie and his friends have also experienced a short 'summer'!
It all begins on the first day of the new term when the class is given an assignment to write a 500-word essay on what they did during the summer that had just past. Linus in particular was not happy at the assignment and he puts his hand up and asks, 'How do you teachers keep coming up with these great ideas?' It makes no difference, the assignment stands!
At home Charlie struggles after eight words and Linus does the same. Then they remember that, quite against their wishes, they went to summer camp when Lucy signed the whole gang up to go. And go they did with Snoopy trying out the bus driver's seat before they set off.
The boys struggled to get on the bus properly but the girls, under the guidance of Peppermint Patty showed them how it should be done. When they arrive at the camp, it is made up of wooden framed tents either side of a lake, the boys sleeping on one side of the lake and the girls on the other.
Charlie Brown could not make his bed properly so smart old Snoopy shows him how it is done. A swimming race and a ball game is undertaken with the girls coming out on top in each. After a night toasting marshmallows over a fire, and then a little sleep, a canoe race is arranged but Charlie Brown and Snoopy, despite thinking that they have won, lose. Fed up with losing, the boys arrange something that they know they can win at - arm wrestling.
The boys arrange for their champion, Snoopy, to wear a mask and be the 'Masked Marvel' as he takes on Lucy. They lock arms and it is a struggle with neither gaining supremacy - that is until Snoopy leans across and kisses Lucy, who momentarily relaxes and loses. 'Foul, foul. This stupid masked marvel fouled. I'm the winner. I won,' she shouts.
At that point Charlie and Linus realise they have written enough, with both agreeing that it was a difficult summer. Linus gets an 'A' but Charlie only gets a 'C' and Linus says to Charlie, 'It was a kind of short summer, wasn't it, Charlie Brown?' Charlie can only agree, adding wistfully, 'And it looks like it's going to be a long winter.' I've definitely heard that before ... but at least reading about Charlie and the gang's woes brought me in out of the rain!
It all begins on the first day of the new term when the class is given an assignment to write a 500-word essay on what they did during the summer that had just past. Linus in particular was not happy at the assignment and he puts his hand up and asks, 'How do you teachers keep coming up with these great ideas?' It makes no difference, the assignment stands!
At home Charlie struggles after eight words and Linus does the same. Then they remember that, quite against their wishes, they went to summer camp when Lucy signed the whole gang up to go. And go they did with Snoopy trying out the bus driver's seat before they set off.
The boys struggled to get on the bus properly but the girls, under the guidance of Peppermint Patty showed them how it should be done. When they arrive at the camp, it is made up of wooden framed tents either side of a lake, the boys sleeping on one side of the lake and the girls on the other.
Charlie Brown could not make his bed properly so smart old Snoopy shows him how it is done. A swimming race and a ball game is undertaken with the girls coming out on top in each. After a night toasting marshmallows over a fire, and then a little sleep, a canoe race is arranged but Charlie Brown and Snoopy, despite thinking that they have won, lose. Fed up with losing, the boys arrange something that they know they can win at - arm wrestling.
The boys arrange for their champion, Snoopy, to wear a mask and be the 'Masked Marvel' as he takes on Lucy. They lock arms and it is a struggle with neither gaining supremacy - that is until Snoopy leans across and kisses Lucy, who momentarily relaxes and loses. 'Foul, foul. This stupid masked marvel fouled. I'm the winner. I won,' she shouts.
At that point Charlie and Linus realise they have written enough, with both agreeing that it was a difficult summer. Linus gets an 'A' but Charlie only gets a 'C' and Linus says to Charlie, 'It was a kind of short summer, wasn't it, Charlie Brown?' Charlie can only agree, adding wistfully, 'And it looks like it's going to be a long winter.' I've definitely heard that before ... but at least reading about Charlie and the gang's woes brought me in out of the rain!
February 10, 2020
I continue to try and add cartoon related material to the list. It's hard. I just picked up a copy of a very rare book by Oscar Levant I really want to get to. But, I'm trying. This was a very recent purchase and curious as to the effort to adapt the animated 1969 cartoon into book form, which I recall never works well.
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An Exception! This was brilliantly adapted. I recall the animated version and admire whoever did this. no credit is given as to who adapted. The major trouble with all of the animated versions of Schulz's work it the uneven way the gags Schulz wrote for the strip version is adapted.
Y'see, the animated film is, in itself, an adaptation of the comic strip. So the book is an adaption of an adaption.
There are so incongruous gags tied to gether in the animated version that are better put together here. One is done with a shift of words and using the turned page to jump from one scene to one in an entirely different place.
Still the story, in it's entirety is a bit goofy. The best part in the animated version is cut out of the book for some reason which involved the very end of the story in the film and book.
Bottom line: I recommend this book 6 out of ten points.
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An Exception! This was brilliantly adapted. I recall the animated version and admire whoever did this. no credit is given as to who adapted. The major trouble with all of the animated versions of Schulz's work it the uneven way the gags Schulz wrote for the strip version is adapted.
Y'see, the animated film is, in itself, an adaptation of the comic strip. So the book is an adaption of an adaption.
There are so incongruous gags tied to gether in the animated version that are better put together here. One is done with a shift of words and using the turned page to jump from one scene to one in an entirely different place.
Still the story, in it's entirety is a bit goofy. The best part in the animated version is cut out of the book for some reason which involved the very end of the story in the film and book.
Bottom line: I recommend this book 6 out of ten points.
September 15, 2020
This is a super cute and fun book about the summer adventures of Charlie Brown and his friends. This book has great illustrations and could teach children about friendly competition.
Read
December 14, 2023this is my barbie movie
Read
November 1, 2024literature
June 7, 2026
Snoopy in a raccoon hat and driving a bus is very near and dear to my heart
May 19, 2016
It Was a Short Story Charlie Brown (Updated)
Charlie Brown and Linus get called out for playing hangman during class. Linus reminds their teacher that she hasn’t given them any assignments yet. So, she gives them a 500-word essay on what they did this summer. Charlie Brown vents to Violet that writing a 500 word essay is impossible, but she tells him she already did it. He tells her she DRIVES HIM CRAZY! Charlie Brown screams on Linus that teacher’s go to college so they can make “stupid lil kids write stupid essays on what they did all summer”.
Charlie Brown starts his paper and tells how he played ball and went to camp. This gives him eight words. He has 492 to go. Charlie Brown asks Lucy what he did this summer and she says he wanted to stay home and read comic books and watch tv, but she signed him up for camp. He starts the paper over.
Lucy has signed everyone up for camp and they are NOT happy. Linus starts freaking out about it being in the woods and there being tree snakes. Non plussed Lucy says she’ll tell everyone’s parents they’ll aall be happy to go. No discussions. Even Snoopy is going. Charlie Brown is picked camp leader for the boys and the first thing they do is challenge the girls to a swim race. He tells them to swim steady and not show them up to bad. After all boys are stronger. The girls beat the boys BADLY!
Charlie Brown tries to encourage them and says it’s not like they lost a ball game. They decide to challenge the girls to a soft ball game. The girls beat them 43 to 1. Charlie Brown is particularly bummed because this is his best sport. He says it must feel good to be a winner. They must feel great. He feels terrible! Peppermint Patty and the girls come by to cheer him up and sing songs around the camp fire.
The next day, they go on a nature hike. Charlie Brown is told there’s a bug in his hair. He freaks out but Lucy tells him its crawled down his neck. Lucy thinks she sees a big yellow butterfly from Brazil, but Linus points out it’s a potatoe chip. Charlie Brown decides that if he challenges the girls to a canoe race and they win, everyone will forget about the softball game. He paddles and paddles and only gets 4 feet.
Charlie Brown tells the boys they’ll challenge the girls to a wrist wrestling contest and to represent them will be “The Masked Marvel” aka Snoopy. The girls tell him he’d better be better at wrist wrestling than all the other activities so far. “The Masked Marvel” wins by kissing Lucy who yells she won. Linus gets an A on his paper. Charlie Brown gets a C.
My Thoughts:
Even as a writer, this would be a tough assignment for me to write a 500-word essay on what I did all summer. Even tho I don’t think I’ve ever been to camp because this kind just has never appealed to me because I’m not athletic, I liked this short story was very strong in showing “ girl power”. Every single challenge the girls were in they came out on top! VERY EMPOWERING!
Rating: 7
Charlie Brown and Linus get called out for playing hangman during class. Linus reminds their teacher that she hasn’t given them any assignments yet. So, she gives them a 500-word essay on what they did this summer. Charlie Brown vents to Violet that writing a 500 word essay is impossible, but she tells him she already did it. He tells her she DRIVES HIM CRAZY! Charlie Brown screams on Linus that teacher’s go to college so they can make “stupid lil kids write stupid essays on what they did all summer”.
Charlie Brown starts his paper and tells how he played ball and went to camp. This gives him eight words. He has 492 to go. Charlie Brown asks Lucy what he did this summer and she says he wanted to stay home and read comic books and watch tv, but she signed him up for camp. He starts the paper over.
Lucy has signed everyone up for camp and they are NOT happy. Linus starts freaking out about it being in the woods and there being tree snakes. Non plussed Lucy says she’ll tell everyone’s parents they’ll aall be happy to go. No discussions. Even Snoopy is going. Charlie Brown is picked camp leader for the boys and the first thing they do is challenge the girls to a swim race. He tells them to swim steady and not show them up to bad. After all boys are stronger. The girls beat the boys BADLY!
Charlie Brown tries to encourage them and says it’s not like they lost a ball game. They decide to challenge the girls to a soft ball game. The girls beat them 43 to 1. Charlie Brown is particularly bummed because this is his best sport. He says it must feel good to be a winner. They must feel great. He feels terrible! Peppermint Patty and the girls come by to cheer him up and sing songs around the camp fire.
The next day, they go on a nature hike. Charlie Brown is told there’s a bug in his hair. He freaks out but Lucy tells him its crawled down his neck. Lucy thinks she sees a big yellow butterfly from Brazil, but Linus points out it’s a potatoe chip. Charlie Brown decides that if he challenges the girls to a canoe race and they win, everyone will forget about the softball game. He paddles and paddles and only gets 4 feet.
Charlie Brown tells the boys they’ll challenge the girls to a wrist wrestling contest and to represent them will be “The Masked Marvel” aka Snoopy. The girls tell him he’d better be better at wrist wrestling than all the other activities so far. “The Masked Marvel” wins by kissing Lucy who yells she won. Linus gets an A on his paper. Charlie Brown gets a C.
My Thoughts:
Even as a writer, this would be a tough assignment for me to write a 500-word essay on what I did all summer. Even tho I don’t think I’ve ever been to camp because this kind just has never appealed to me because I’m not athletic, I liked this short story was very strong in showing “ girl power”. Every single challenge the girls were in they came out on top! VERY EMPOWERING!
Rating: 7
May 3, 2014
A slim paperback, this is effectively a novelisation of the 1969 film directed by Bill Melendez and the artwork is adapted from the production. The plot is fairly straightforward, with Lucy signing the Peanuts gang up for summer camp even though most of them don’t want to go and when they arrive, they split into boy-v-girl camps. Taking part in various activities - swimming, canoe racing, softball - the boys are trounced at every turn and sit around the camp fire at night reflecting on how miserable they are and camp ends with ‘The Masked Marvel’ taking on Lucy at an arm-wrestling contest which he wins by giving her a kiss. The framing device of Linus and Charlie Brown writing a school report of what they did has Linus say, “Oh well, it was a short summer, Charlie Brown” to which our hero, with typical melancholy, replies “And it looks like it’s going to be a long winter.” I wasn’t impressed with this, to be honest, the story is too brisk and under-developed to really hold the attention (plus I love and much prefer the strip format of the Coronet collections) though some of the artwork (especially Snoopy sleeping on his tent in the moonlight) is lovely. Worth a read, for completist-sake, but it’s probably better to watch the film
January 29, 2015
1st Read: September 25, 1977 - September 30, 1977 (**** Rating)
I still have this book which I purchased in grade one in 1977. The students were allowed to order up to three each once a month. Great if you were one kid in a family! I have four sisters; three of them also in school with me as well. We were limited to one book each.
There is a definite sentimental value to these books, as I have often asked myself why I hold onto them. They represent what kind of home structure many of us grew up in and around. They were innocent times for sure. Real life was not like that we soon realized.
This holds goods memories for me. I think my Grandparents even read it to me!
FINAL READ: January 12, 2017 (** Rating)
From my box of re-reads, it is another book I've long ago outgrown. I'm not even a fan of Charlie Brown and haven't been for many years. It is time to let go of clutter like this!
I still have this book which I purchased in grade one in 1977. The students were allowed to order up to three each once a month. Great if you were one kid in a family! I have four sisters; three of them also in school with me as well. We were limited to one book each.
There is a definite sentimental value to these books, as I have often asked myself why I hold onto them. They represent what kind of home structure many of us grew up in and around. They were innocent times for sure. Real life was not like that we soon realized.
This holds goods memories for me. I think my Grandparents even read it to me!
FINAL READ: January 12, 2017 (** Rating)
From my box of re-reads, it is another book I've long ago outgrown. I'm not even a fan of Charlie Brown and haven't been for many years. It is time to let go of clutter like this!
Read
July 27, 2011Pictures from a TV special with narrative rather than dialogue--which means it just comes across very oddly. I guess if you grew up watching a lot of the specials it would be nostalgic, but my Peanuts love is fueled mainly by the early, pre-Peppermint Patty strips, so this one is kind of weird.
April 20, 2012
I like other Peanuts' books more because I love copies of the comic strips. This book is based off of the movie, but I loved the movie too much to enjoy the book form. it was still a good read if you want something quick to read to a child. :)
November 3, 2013
Amusing collection of stills from the special added to by an actual story rather than comic strip.
Summary of the special, essentially. Still, it's a cute little story and one of my earliest Peanuts books. :)
Summary of the special, essentially. Still, it's a cute little story and one of my earliest Peanuts books. :)
January 22, 2020
A much better short story with Linus and Charlie Brown recounting the summer. Lucy is bossy and somehow schedules all the kids for summer camp. This camp is by and large unsupervised. And Snoopy saves the day by giving Lucy a kiss.
March 11, 2020
Not actually a good book, but fun. I was most interested in the narration, something neither the cartoon that is the source for this story nor the comic strip have. It is instructive to see how the narration interacts with a story originally told in quite a different way.
June 11, 2021
Cute of course. There's a lot of "the boys versus the girls" to this that doesn't age particularly well, but that's to be expected of a book of this time period. The overall concept of summer having flown by is for sure real.
December 25, 2013
A pleasant little adaptation from the PEANUTS TV special.
December 21, 2019
I love these books. I grew up with Charlie Brown. A great depiction of the kids I went to school with, they just had different names 😦
August 22, 2020
i think this was my mums book and i remember watching the episode of this story when i was little 🥺
January 5, 2021
Super short 5 minute read, love as always.
March 25, 2024
Me gustó mucho. No es lo mejor que he leído en relación a Charlie Brown y Peanuts pero me gustó el hecho de seguir expandiendo mi colección de esta hermosa serie h que es mi animación favorita en la vida. Es literalmente como leer una adaptación de un especial de TV de Peanuts. Lo leí con sus voces en las cabezas, con su humor y todo. Me parece que es muy cute y un ítem cool pero no resalta como otros que he leído.
February 18, 2020
Vaikka lapsuuden kesät ovatkin muistoissa ikuisia ja lämpimiä, eiköhän ne kuitenkin olleet juuri tälläisiä kuin tässä kirjassa.
October 13, 2022
Good ol' Chuck Brown!
July 3, 2023
Infantil.
Tantos recuerdos con esta historia y la sensación de verano es tan intensa como mi nostalgia.
Tantos recuerdos con esta historia y la sensación de verano es tan intensa como mi nostalgia.
February 13, 2024
Classic Peanuts - love it! What could be better?
July 14, 2026
The Peanuts gang are going camping in this adventure. The fun of competing between boys and girls is a classic plot and helps fill the paper that needs to be written. Gotta love the simple story.
August 25, 2011
More Peanuts.
July 29, 2017
Good breezy read with the Peanuts characters
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews