My name in French is exactly the same

I just received a copy of Snoopy : Les trésors du chien le plus célèbre du monde, sent to me from the British branch of Amazon. This is the French translation of my book The Peanuts Collection; it always amused me to have books which I’ve written, but cannot read. (For those of you who wonder if authors are given free copies of foreign editions, the correct answer is “sometimes.”) Published last year by Michel Lafon, I was wondering whether they would translate the various items pictured and things included into French. It seemed wrong to do it on the reproduction itself (thus making it not a reproduction), and there really isn’t room in the book to add the text of all those items.

They took a third path: the book has its own website where you can see images of the various included documents with the French translation besides them. So if you want a French translation of the Pumpkin Carols, or of Harriet Glickman’s letter to Schulz, or even just need to be able to read the recipe for Cookie Bones to your French chef, you’ll find these things there. (On the front page, click on the word balloon in the lower right to get to a scrollable display of the documents.)

Classic finds
Review: Christmas Gift Certificates for You

When I ordered a copy of the 1981 Hallmark Peanuts product Christmas Gift Certificates for You, I reckoned it would be one of those novelty coupon books, each page removable and offering the recipient a walk in the snow, help taking down the tree, or some Peanuts-y equivalent thereof. I …

New releases
A pop-up shows up

Here Comes Charlie Brown!: A Peanuts Pop-up, Gene Kannenberg, Jr.’s adaptation of the very first Peanuts strip, is not the first Peanuts book to reprint only a single strip. There was at least one board book that did much the same thing. However, that board book was, at heart, a …

Classic finds
English Phrases to Comfort Your Heart

The next book in my Amazon Japan shipment falls into the adorable category of “Peanuts used to explain American culture”. English Phrases to Comfort Your Heart with Snoopy by Nobu Yamada falls into that category. It also falls into the category of “books which are meant to be destroyed”, as each …