an A Charlie Brown Christmas edition by any other name

Animated Peanuts

Apparently, there are now so many book adaptations of A Charlie Brown Christmas that they have to come up with new names to distinguish them, at least judging by the new book A Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. Despite the different title, this is actually this year’s Hallmark entry in the great A Charlie Brown Christmas adaptation derby. And it also seems like publishers have to work to find something new to do with their adaptation. So what is this one? Hallmark wasn’t satisfied with doing a book with sound-buttons or pop-up scenes. No, this book has sound buttons and pop-ups. For $19.95, you get the story told across seven two-page spreads, each of which has it’s own sound button and four of which have pop-ups. So it is succinct, but the sound makes it rich… we get, for example, a sizable chunk of Gospel from Linus.

The book lists for $19.95 (which is the same price that they had last year’s recordable storybook discounted to at the local Hallmark store.) However, if you’d like to save some shekels, wait a few weeks; the book is scheduled to be $5 off on the weekend of November 9-11. If you don’t have a Hallmark store nearby, you can order the book online, but the discount is not available.

So far this year, I’ve already gotten the only CB Christmas adaptation that I knew was coming out (the book-and-snowglobe kit), and the one I presumed would come out (since Hallmark has now had new editions for five years straight.) Does that mean it’s all over for this year? I’ve thought that in past years, only to be surprised. I guess that only time shall tell.

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