The reason the AAUGH Blog continues to exist

In these days of worldwide strife and uncertainty, people find various ways of maintaining a steadiness in their life, something that assures them that the world will go on turning. For some, this rock is religion. For others, it is the love of a good woman or a good man. For me, it’s the ongoing stream of book adaptations of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

You should all be relieved to learn that the earth will keep spinning in 2011.

Coming in September is A Charlie Brown Christmas: with Sound and Music, from Running Press. I presume this will be a version of last year’s A Charlie Brown Christmas: An Interactive Book with Sound, only stripped of that edition’s Hallmark logos. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the book be a somewhat larger size. I would be surprised to see new art or text for the adaptation (although I’m willing to be surprised), as Running Press has been willing to reuse that art repeatedly. And I fully expect that the back cover will continue to claim that the special has now been airing for more than 45 years – it would be funny if they struck that line now that it’s finally true.

Also coming from Running Press in the month before that is It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Leaf Globe. Judging from the price and the fact that it’s listed as a 16 page paperback, I’m pretty sure that this will be one of Running Press’s little boxed items, with a short booklet version of the story and a leaf globe. Now I’ll have to admit that I’m not 100% sure what a “leaf globe” is. In fact, I’m not even 7% sure. Or perhaps they’ve just changed the character’s name to “Charlie Brownleaf Globe”. He is rather globular, after all.

(It has been a while since I had any new upcoming books to announce – and don’t be surprised if such announcements continue their slow pace. This has nothing to do with Peanuts and much to do with the book world in general, which is facing rough times and the possible impending collapse of one of its big chains, Borders.)

Upcoming releases
2025 in Peanuts

Happy New Year, all you AAUGH Blog Readers! 2025 has come, like it or not, and it brings with it the 75th anniversary of Peanuts! Now, we’ve seen at least some attempts to play off 0f the big anniversary year since at least last summer, more than a full year …

Upcoming releases
A book I’d not expected to resurface

Back in 2011, Schulz’s granddaughter Dena Hodges issued the first two chapters of  a memoir called In the Shadow of the Family Dog. As I noted in my review at the time, the chapter and the description of the project made it clear that the focus was her relationship with …

Upcoming releases
A box of squares

This May, Fantagraphics is collecting the various small square Peanuts books they’ve published into a new box set, Peanuts All Year Round Mini Collection. This includes: A Valentine for Charlie Brown — Valentine’s Day and romance strips Batter-Up Charlie Brown! — baseball strips Waiting for the Great Pumpkin — Halloween …