I’ve finally gotten around to filling in the whole that I left in my Peanuts Great American Adventure collection, by getting the storybook Hooray for Liberty, Charlie Brown! This recent volume, written by former-voice-of-Lucy Tracy Stratford, tells about Lucy talking the gang into building a treehouse, and then declaring herself “queen” and charging the others for playing in the house they built. Linus, rather than bemoaning their treatment, uses it as an excuse to explain the parallels between their current predicament and the American colonies of Britain, when they ultimately decided to secede from the motherland and declare their independence.

I’ve been keeping a bit of an eye on these books, given that they come from an avowedly conservative publisher. I was looking to see if they ever crossed the line from conservative values (and really, they are largely grounded in patriotism) to conservative spin (which is something that the publisher certainly has supported on other fronts.) They haven’t until now, but there’s a small whiff of it here; when Queen Lucy deposes herself from the clubhouse, the gang, who had focused somewhat on the “no taxation without representation” phrases of the American rebels, get into the clubhouse and set no charge, which could be read as equating the phrase with “no taxation, period.” (In contrast, they could’ve agreed that everyone would still chip in a nickel, but it would be used to get snacks.) However, that may be reading a bit into it all, as there’s inherently a simplification that is apt to take place in a history-oriented book for kids. (That’s why I don’t complain about the text piece in the back saying that “The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 Congressional representatives on July 4, 1776” when historians generally agree that not all of the fifty-six were there on that day, although they debate just how many may have signed it then.) A little simplifying can be useful in keeping the core of the truth from being lost, when dealing with kids.

The art is by Tom Brannon, who does his usual lovely Tom Brannon style.

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