The Peanuts Book

Now, how could anyone hate Charlie Brown? But the choice is brilliant. From the beginning, Charles Schulz made it clear that Peanuts, while about children, was not going to be childish or simple or simply for children. It was going to be funny and sad and, best of all, funny about being sad. Or as Charlie Brown might say, “Good Grief.” For 50 years, Peanuts was king of the comics page, and people of all ages read it every day, because Schulz knew that our inner lives as adults are rooted in our childhood wants and fears—emotions that we never fully leave behind. So, we recognize ourselves in the little victories and defeats of these L’il Folks. No matter how old we are, the tree will eat our kite. The little red-haired girl may never notice us. We get no Valentine’s mail or Halloween candy. Our dog is more popular than we are. The football gets pulled away at the last minute, again. And again. But we know we will never give up trying. Every spring, we think this will be the winning season—blockheads to the end. But in all this, Schulz, a man of deep faith, never points us toward despair. In that first strip, Charlie Brown strolls by the boy who hates him, as happy and oblivious as the Fool. Maybe he doesn’t hear what Shermy says, or maybe he is just pretending he doesn’t hear it. Either way, from the first strip to the last, Charlie Brown keeps walking on, forever a hero of hope.