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A Peanuts Christmas
Deck the halls with a brand-new collection of favorites from Christmas past!
Paperback
First published October 22, 2002
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About the author
Charles M. Schulz
3,036 books1,646 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 19, 2012
It's the holiday season so why not celebrate by taking in some old Christmas comic strips from the one and only Schultz. This definitely got me in the Christmas spirit and made me incredibly nostalgic. What's fantastic about this is I enjoyed and so did my son. There are a few repeats in the book, and I had the hardest time determining between Rerun and Linus - who knew Linus had a younger brother? Answer: the best fans, I suppose. A great addition to your Christmas book collection - and yes, any avid reader has one!
February 22, 2017
Big fan of Peanuts Comic strip! Even better as I shares this with my 8 year old daughter, Iris. We had fun reading this together!
October 7, 2018
This collection was kinda average. Few strips were repeated throughout the book. Some strips that using Bible quotes are quite dull and the joke was lost on me.
September 12, 2019
It's enjoyable to read all the Christmas related comic strips.
Recommended to all Peanuts fans.
Recommended to all Peanuts fans.
November 2, 2021
Super-cute collection of all Peanuts Christmas comic strips.
December 10, 2019
I re-read this book around Christmas time and still greatly enjoyed it. It has such a wonderful feel to it. Charles Shultz had such a gift for capturing the humor, innocence, and the brilliant insights of the Christmas season. His writings and charming art work easily deserves 5 stars.
So why did I give it only 4 stars? The reason is because of the book editing. It is very sloppy and should not have happened from such a large and respected company like Ballantine Books (Random House), especially with retail cost of $25.95. Some of the comic strips are repeated. The size of the strips varies from very small and hard to read having 5 strips on a page to the easy to read and much more enjoyable 3 strips on a page.
So why did I give it only 4 stars? The reason is because of the book editing. It is very sloppy and should not have happened from such a large and respected company like Ballantine Books (Random House), especially with retail cost of $25.95. Some of the comic strips are repeated. The size of the strips varies from very small and hard to read having 5 strips on a page to the easy to read and much more enjoyable 3 strips on a page.
December 20, 2015
A great compilation of the comic strip with a Christmas focus!
As a child, I didn't "get" Charlie Brown a lot. I didn't really understand until I was older that there was an over-arching story for the whole week. Many times I just didn't understand why it wasn't funny. The Sunday strip was always my favorite because the whole story was presented. The compilation brings the whole week's worth of strips to life and makes a happy childhood memory complete :)
As a child, I didn't "get" Charlie Brown a lot. I didn't really understand until I was older that there was an over-arching story for the whole week. Many times I just didn't understand why it wasn't funny. The Sunday strip was always my favorite because the whole story was presented. The compilation brings the whole week's worth of strips to life and makes a happy childhood memory complete :)
December 8, 2014
Love the nostalgia aspect. Beautiful book. I love peanuts greeting cards and of course the holiday specials. But the comic itself is hit or miss for me.
It is not consistently funny like calvin and hobbess or blooom county when speaking strictly of comic STRIPS.
Certainly a nice book to have out during the holidays.
It is not consistently funny like calvin and hobbess or blooom county when speaking strictly of comic STRIPS.
Certainly a nice book to have out during the holidays.
January 2, 2008
Great book to read after surgery. I could read as little as I wanted or could. I did notice that some of the strips seemed overly familiar, maybe similar themes, or I read them on Snoopy.com. It doesn'i matter, I was happy with my choice!
January 8, 2025
A collection of classic Peanuts comics related to the Christmas season. My only complaint is that they seem to be in a random order and some are repeated - poor editing! Still a great read for the Peanuts fan, though.
November 25, 2007
A fantastic collection, and a perfect book to get yourself in the mood for Christmas!
November 25, 2007
This is a cute compilation of Peanuts Christmas / winter strips made by hallmark. It makes a nice gift for a Christmas or Peanuts lover or a nice coffee table book to have around at the holidays.
April 12, 2012
Classics for children & adults.
July 31, 2014
Not a bad or boarding book, would be good for the right kids. I just didn't want to read 150 pages of comic strips.
July 17, 2014
As much as I love the Peanuts Christmas Special, I'm indifferent to this recent novelization.
December 26, 2014
A fun read for Christmas, and a nice break from the heavy reading of the previous semester at school.
November 30, 2015
I reread this classic and found its simple message of the true meaning of Christmas. The illustrations are beautiful and the storytelling is first-rate.
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January 17, 2016A classic!
April 17, 2016
For me, this is another Christmas classic.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews