A Peanuts Christmas

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Strips, Poor Presentation
Review: Any collection of Peanuts strips starts out with five stars, simply for the fact that it's Peanuts. I never fail to smile at Charlie Brown's loveable (and always thwarted) attempts to fit in, Linus's philosophising, and Snoopy's imaginary adventures. However, stars are subtracted for the poor editing of this collection, which seems to have been put together by someone who quickly scanned through every Peanuts strip, pulling out any one that contained the word "Christmas". I didn't so much mind the inclusion of non-holiday related strips, for example, Peppermint Patty handing in a book report in August that was due last Christmas, as I did the incompleteness of several story lines that happened to take place during the holidays. Once the Christmas references stopped, the storylines are cut off in this book, leaving several hanging threads, such as the strips about Snoopy dreading Poochie's visit. Additionally, at least two strips appear twice in this book, giving the impression that it was quickly slapped together to get it into stores in time for the holiday shopping season. What would Linus think?!?

My other gripe is with the packaging. These strips have all been published in other collections, so a real Peanuts enthusiast already has them on the bookshelf. Simply gathering all the Christmas strips together into a high priced hardcover volume doesn't add much to them. It would have been nice to have some commentary on the strips, or perhaps include some stills from "A Charlie Brown Christmas".

In short, this is a good holiday gift for the casual Peanuts fan, but something of a let down for the die-hards. However, you'll still smile while reminiscing about childhood Christmases with the gang, and that can only be a good thing. Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

Rating:
Summary: GOOD BUT INCOMPLETE COLLECTION
Review: I've always loved reading comic strips around Christmastime since it is MY favorite time of the year. In fact, this is the only time of the year that I read some strips as long as they have a Christmas subject. This 160 page collection gathers many, but certainly not all of the Peanuts Christmas strips done by Schulz from the 50's through the 90's. You'll see the gang decorating, having fun, and going through the general stress of Christmas as themes of commercialism are explored as they were in the classic TV special.

Yes, I don't think there are any strips here that have NOT been re-printed in previous collections so if you are a real Peanuts "nut", chances are you've seen these before. But, they've never been presented in a Christmas themed collection before as far as I know so that makes it a nice book to own.

Simply delightful

Rating:
Summary: Warm your Heart with the Peanuts Gang
Review: There are certain aspects of Christmas where the commercialism that prevades the holiday makes one fail to truly appreciate its meaning. To regain the true nature of Christmas, one turns to Handel's Messiah, Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Vaughn Williams' Hodie, Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Charles Schultz classic Christmas Peanuts comics... you will receive an emotional and spiritual rejuevenation when you read these truly inspired vignettes every Holiday season...to be enjoyed by the whole family!

Rating:
Summary: A Peanuts Christmas, cartoons selected by somebody
Review: This is definitely not the Hallmark book ... This is a nice collection, but not a great collection. Many strips were dropped from the continuity. At least three strips were printed twice, indicating either the editor was asleep or there was no editor! We can only wait for a collection of full continuity strips, but, until then, this is still a worthwhile purchase for Peanuts fans young and old. If you already have the Hallmark collection, buy this also. If not, forget that edition.

Rating:
Summary: A Peanuts Christmas, cartoons selected by somebody
Review: This is definitely not the Hallmark book ... This is a nice collection, but not a great collection. Many strips were dropped from the continuity. At least three strips were printed twice, indicating either the editor was asleep or there was no editor! We can only wait for a collection of full continuity strips, but, until then, this is still a worthwhile purchase for Peanuts fans young and old. If you already have the Hallmark collection, buy this also. If not, forget that edition.

Rating:
Summary: A Peanuts Christmas, cartoons selected by somebody
Review: This is definitely not the Hallmark book which seems to be offered in the marketplace end of the Amazon sales!! This is a nice collection, but not a great collection. Many strips were dropped from the continuity. At least three strips were printed twice, indicating either the editor was asleep or there was no editor! We can only wait for a collection of full continuity strips, but, until then, this is still a worthwhile purchase for Peanuts fans young and old. If you already have the Hallmark collection, buy this also. If not, forget that edition.

Rating:
Summary: A Peanuts Christmas, cartoons selected by somebody
Review: This is definitely not the Hallmark book which seems to be offered in the marketplace end of the Amazon sales!! This is a nice collection, but not a great collection. Many strips were dropped from the continuity. At least three strips were printed twice, indicating either the editor was asleep or there was no editor! We can only wait for a collection of full continuity strips, but, until then, this is still a worthwhile purchase for Peanuts fans young and old. If you already have the Hallmark collection, buy this also. If not, forget that edition.

Rating:
Summary: very good, but could have been better
Review: This Peanuts hardcover is definitely recommended. However, it could have been more comprehensive, especially considering previous Peanuts Christmas-themed volumes. A decent preface should have been included-- and many, many more Christmas strips could/should have been included.