Longtime readers of the blog know that my favorite time of the year is when the new book adaptations of the TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas arrive, and that in the current century, that usually means that I have several such joyous days per year. This year’s first such day brings a little extra joy with it.

You see, as the book-adaption-of-A-CB-Christmas-obsessed person that I am, it has long been my dream that their be a Frankenstein edition, one that combines pieces of all the different art and text adaptations that have been done of the book into a single continuous story.  A little photoshopped Schulz, some Braddock art, some LoBianco art, some Brannon art, a bit of coloring book, a few screen captures, all strung together to tell the tale. And the first baby step has been taken in that direction.

A Charlie Brown Christmas Book & Tree Kit from Running Press is far from the first CB Christmas-themed little boxed kit that they have offered. It’s not even the first book-and-tree kit they’ve put out, but this one is not a rerelease of the 2007 one nor the 2009 one. It’s more the small size of the 2007 one, but this one has a base with batteries in it, so it can play the song “Christmastime is Here” from the opening of the special.

But the book that comes with it is a Frankenstein version: it takes the Caroline Dolan text from the 2003 mini-book and, instead of using the Peter and Nick LoBianco art that that edition has, pairs it with the Thomas Brannon art that was first introduced in a full-sized 2008 book , although to be more specific this uses the version of the art introduced in a 2015 reissue, which eliminated Peppermint Patty and Marcie from the interior art as well as providing a new cover image.

So this is not a new adaptation, but neither is it a reprint. It is genuinely a new edition, and as such, it is a fine thing to have! You can go get one for yourself here — they are available for immediate shipping.

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