You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

The name of the book about which this book report is about is

We watched countless Peanuts television specials as kids, but by the time we grow up to be parents we forget how cruel the characters are capable of being to one another. Showing a child A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, or—worst of all—A Boy Named Charlie Brown* before she is emotionally ready is a too-common rookie parenting mistake. This abridged adaptation of the (funny and charming) Broadway show takes a tiny bit of the edge off, kicking off on an upbeat number, omitting the meanest song (“The Doctor Is In”), and closing sweetly with “Happiness.” But this is still the same Charles M. Schulz universe of adult anxieties, frustrations, and disappointments projected onto simply-drawn children. They can’t stand most people, love unrequitedly, and can’t seem to win a baseball game, or even get a kite off of the ground. —Chris Ereneta

*In which Charlie Brown’s friends abandon him in disgust for merely taking second place at the National Spelling Bee.