Nat Gertler

The Peanuts Collection is a brilliant concept: a look back at the history of Peanuts and how it has impacted our culture. The graphic layout is stunning and filled with delightful pencil sketches, finished comic strips, photos of merchandise, personal notes, letters and other ephemera. In short a classic coffee table work for casual interaction.

Unfortunately the text does not live up to the rest of this work. The writing style seemed too clinical and detached for the subject matter – It felt more like I was being given instructions on how to dissect a frog in high school biology class, rather than warm human insights into the characters (no make that friends) I have come to know over the last 50 years.

Book is recommended for all Peanuts lovers, but with caveat you should consume this like a coffee table book and stick to the pictures and captions and ignore most of the text.… (plus d'informations)

The Charlie Brown Christmas special was on tv the other night. The very same one since - do you believe this - 1965! Forty five years. And I still enjoy watching it. It's a classic and brings back so many memories.

And memories are the order of the day in Nat Gertler's new book The Peanuts Collection. Subtitled; Treasures From the World's Most Beloved Comic Strip.

And that it is. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone in North America who doesn't recognize the characters. When the strip began it was carried in 7 newspapers and topped out at 2600 papers! Charles Shulz created the Peanuts comic strip and created 18,000 strips over the course of 50 years. Reprints are still carried by over 2200 newspapers.

The introduction by Shulz's daughter Amy says it best..." My dad believed that he was born to draw his comic strip, and his fans refer to him as a genius. If he is a genius, then I believe it is because of his ability to create characters that were loved as thought they were real and to draw fifty year's worth of strips that had relevance in the lives of millions of people."

Gertler has combed through both family mementos and the archives of The Charles M. Shulz Museum to showcase Peanuts materials, items, stories, pictures and ephemera - many not seen before.

Each of the characters is covered, from their early look to the nineties, complete with their contributions to the strip. There was so much included - toys and games based on the characters, advertising(the amount of products was amazing!) social causes, books, colouring pages, television specials. I appreciated the level of detail. The book is filled with beautifully glossy pictures. It's an interactive book as well. There are lots of little pockets with reproduction of letters, baseball cards, greeting cards, sketches, songbooks and more. There is even a set of prints included that could be framed. Here's a shot of what's inside. Or check out this slideshow.

It's the season for gorgeous coffee table and collector books and this is one you don't want to miss. Perfect for a Peanuts fan or nostalgia buff. It's a fitting tribute to an American icon.

Now who is your favourite character? I always wanted to see the inside of Snoopy's doghouse. And I always had a soft spot for Peppermint Patty.… (plus d'informations)

The comic strip Peanuts ran for almost 50 years in 2,600 newspapers, a record number. During those years 18,000 strips were published. When Charles Schultz fell ill in 1999 new strips ended. Readers still wanted to see Peanuts in the comic section even if they weren’t new. As a result the strip still appears in over 2,200 newspapers. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy and the gang are now firmly a part of pop culture. This beautiful book is the ultimate collection for Peanuts’ fans.

I grew up reading Peanuts, listening to Snoopy vs the Red Baron, watching the Holiday Specials; I thought I knew everything there was to know about them. Well, I was wrong. This collection is a wealth of information. Longtime fans will find many familiar items plus much new material, some of which has never before been seen by the public.

The book begins with a forward from Schultz’s daughter and a note from the author. After that it’s divided into about 30 two-page sections. Each section focuses on one of the characters or holidays or something from Peanuts’ pop culture. About a third of each section is text with the rest artwork, illustrations, photos and removable materials such as reproductions of sketches, letters, stickers, coloring book, prints of the Peanuts characters and much more. The text is filled with fascinating detail about the creation and evolution of the characters.

We learn that neither Lucy nor Linus was part of the original Peanuts crew. In their early years they were very young children and soon grew up to be an important part of the strip. We also learn that Snoopy started out as just a dog. Not a beagle, not a WWI flying ace, just a dog. Eventually he evolved to be superior to the kids in the strip. It was way back in 1960 when Charles Schultz integrated the comics page by introducing Franklin, a ground breaking move. There’s an entire section on the good causes the Peanuts gang promoted. This is just a small sample of what is covered in this collection.

What I found most striking was the high quality artwork and the beautiful layout. If you are of a certain age this book will not only entertain you but will bring back lots of memories. I’ve read it through twice already and I’m still noticing new things. This is the type of book you need to see to appreciate.

I've posted a gallery of photos I took of some of the pages and removable reproductions on my blog.

Highly recommended for Peanuts fans young and old. An excellent gift book.

Review Copy provided by the publisher.… (plus d'informations)