Talkin’ Smak!

smakI’ve recently gotten SMAK! Reflections on Love From the Peanuts Gang, a new gift book available at Hallmark stores (well, some of ’em, I had to order online.) This is book is a full color (if muted color) mixtures of images from the strip with sayings about love, images from the strip with quotes from the strip, and actual strips (dailies, reprinted in non-traditional color, and only about a half dozen of ’em). As a book guy, I find the physical construction interesting, more like a paperback with slabs of cardboard attached to the front and back than the format one usually thinks of when one hears “hardcover”. There are some nice design touches, such as subtle use of strip images being used as the background of some pages.

This is not a book to get because you need Peanuts, but it seems to be a reasonable item for its primary function, as a physical item of joy to present to celebrate romance. $12.95, and it will survive longer than a box of chocolates.

New releases
Review: Snoopy (Classic Cartoon Character Bios)

The Abdo Kids : Classic Cartoon Character Bios books are blatant stuff-to-fill-school-libraries material. Sturdy hardcovers, lots of pictures, 24 pages, little text – about 250 words. The Snoopy volume uses Snoopy images from just about anywhere: strips (appropriately licensed), animation, photos, The Peanuts Movie publicity materials. And the simple facts it …

Classic finds
A needle-ssly fine present

Being a) an adult and b) not a Christmasian, it makes sense that I’m not given much in the way of Christmas presents. This year’s haul was just two items, both given by Dr. Mrs. The AAUGH Blogger: a Terry’s Chocolate Orange (yum!), and this Peanuts embroidery book from Japan. …

New releases
Double Love

Simon Spotlight has dropped two books for the Valentine’s Day Shopping Season, and they’re pretty similar. Love is Everywhere, Snoopy! is a board book that is supposed to be Charlie Brown explaining love to Snoopy (who is said to have asked, which raises the usual how-does-Snoopy-communicate-to-Charlie-Brown question.) Charlie Brown answers …