A Charlie Brown Christmas (Peanuts)

In this irresistible Snoopy board book, the Peanuts gang learn the true meaning of Christmas "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is a "Peanuts" classic, and this clever adaptation tells the story from the point of view of a favourite character - Snoopy! He joyfully bobbles along, decorating his doghouse, winning first prize in the neighbourhood contest and helping his master celebrate Christmas. Little ones will love making Snoopy's bobble hat move back-and-forth with this clever new board book format. Charles M Schulz's "Peanuts com ic debuted in 1950 and went on to become the most widely read comic strip in the world, with an audience of 355 million people in 75 countries. It ran in 2600 newspapers in 21 different languages. Peanuts boasts an unforgettable cast of characters including Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and Good Ol' Charlie Brown!

Just like It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Valentine, this illustrated read-along seeks to re-create the popular Peanuts TV show of the same name. This edition also includes a four-song sampler CD from jazz-great Vince Guaraldi's brilliant soundtrack.

With illustrator Paige Braddock aping Charles Schulz's style, A Charlie Brown Christmas retells the Emmy Award-winning program blow-by-blow (with a few omissions), from the ice-skating opening scene to preparations for the school pageant to Charlie Brown's ill-fated Christmas tree rescue. Braddock almost perfectly mimics the show's cast and backdrops, but just as no one could be fooled by even expert impersonation of a loved one, Peanuts fans might find the niggling differences distracting (whether it's Schroeder's too-wavy hair or Pig Pen's just-too-small head).

A "novelization" like this probably can't ever hope to completely recapture the charm of the original, even if it had used Schulz's original art. Although the dialogue has been faithfully reproduced, much of the story's subtle appeal and cultural subtext gets lost in the book's simplified exposition--which is too bad, given that these are precisely the qualities which have made the show (and Schulz's timeless strip) so durable and well-loved in the first place. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes