the first of two Dance-themed Peanuts books this year

Let me apologize for the relative silence on the blog this week; I’ve been dealing with both writing deadlines (which I’ve gotten clear of) and a cold (which I have not). But I can tell you that as promised, I now have Let’s Dance, Snoopy, and to answer the question I put up before, there’s almost nothing particularly 65th anniversaryish in it, besides a slight nod to it on the back-cover text. The strips reflect a very thin swath of Peanuts history, all Snoopy strips from 1963 through 1967… really, strip reruns from 2011 to 2014, as these are colorized version, have the www.snoopy.com URL placed between panels on every strip, have the “Classic Peanuts” header on the Sundays, and so forth. And I have to admit that while coloring the strip isn’t an utter disgrace, but I do prefer the designed-for-black-and-white ones in their original lack of color; the added visual information is a distraction rather than an addition. And the layout of this book is a little odd – three dailies or one Sunday per page 8.5″x9″ page, but there is always at least two-and-a-half inches of white space at the bottom of the page, as well as an ample upper margin; four strips would’ve fit the page much better than three. But that’s all being picky. The takeaway: this is a book of mid-1960s Peanuts strips featuring Snoopy. In other words, it’s good stuff! And orderable now, of course.

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 …