Remember when I said that the new book A Charlie Brown Christmas coming from Publications International was going to be a songbook and not an adaptation of the classic TV special? Well, I was half right, but half wrong as well — it’s a songbook and and adaptation! Oh frabjuous day!

Each of its five spreads has the words to two songs (well, except for the spread which would have the words to “Linus & Lucy”, as it has no words), plus one to three short paragraphs of story. Unlike some recent tellings, this book does not try to rewrite history by adding characters who were yet to debut in the strip when the special was made, although it does put Lucy in the dancing scene, which she was not in. The art is by Vicki and Bill Scott, whom seem to be quite busy with this stuff these days – and well they should be, as they do a good job.

The book also has five sound buttons, each of which plays two songs, alternating each time you press them. The good news is that if the song you want to hear is not the one it starts playing, tapping the button again will make it start the buttons other song. (You can also abruptly end the music using a little button hidden up by the Lucy and Snoopy buttons.) The music sounds like it’s being synthesized by a simple synthesizer, rather than playing back a recorded sound; somewhat tinny, but not inappropriate my six year old was happy to push the buttons and play the tunes. The back cover says that the book “Includes 2 original songs from the movie plus 8 Christmas songs”, which is correct if you consider a half-hour TV special to be a “movie”; the two original songs are “Christmas Time is Here” and “Linus & Lucy”. Well, if you consider a non-vocal composition to be a “song”.

All in all, a nice little item. Not a must-own, but also not for-crazed-Charile-Brown-Christmas-collectors either.

At the moment, Amazon doesn’t carry this book directly (you can get it through them from a third-party seller), but Barnes & Noble not only has it in stock, they have it at better than half off.

And this edition has now been added to the ridiculously obsessive AAUGH.com Guide to Book Adaptations of  A Charlie Brown Christmas.

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