It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown [Paperback]

Charles M. Schulz (Author, Illustrator), Justine Fontes (Contributor), Ron Fontes (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Peanuts

It's Halloween!

Time for ghosts, ghouls, and...
the Great Pumpkin? Linus is sure that this year the Great Pumpkin will finally appear. Join Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang for some spooky tricks and hilarious treats in this thirty-fifth anniversary adaptation of the television special!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Every year, as the leaves start turning gold and the night air gets chilly, children all over the world begin dreaming of the Great Pumpkin... Well, at least one faithful child does. Poor Linus. While Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy, and the gang make preparations for trick-or-treating and Halloween parties, this stalwart believer risks their ridicule to write his annual letter to the mystical orange orb, in hopes that this year he'll be able to catch sight of his hero as he rises from the most sincere pumpkin patch around to fly through the air with his bag of toys for all the children.

For over 35 years, children have eagerly anticipated Halloween, not just for the tricks and treats, but because they know their favorite television special will be aired. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is based on this TV program, so now fans can enjoy the Halloween antics of the Peanuts gang any time. (Ages 5 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

About the Author

Charles M. Schulz, the most popular cartoonist in history, published comic strips in 2,600 newspapers worldwide and won several prestigious awards, including the Congressional Gold Medal. Mr. Schulz died February 12, 2000, the night before his farewell Peanuts comic strip was published.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Little Simon (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068984607X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689846076
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.7 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,858,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Re-Drawn Book Adapted From the TV Special, August 25, 2002

By 

Terrie (Little Chute, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Paperback)

I almost feel like a traitor saying anything less than praise for this book featuring the Peanuts Gang created originally by Charles M. Schulz. I, like millions of others, grew up with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Violet, Snoopy, Pig Pen, Schroeder, and Sally. Every year at Halloween I looked forward to seeing the story of sincere Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin in the pumpkin patch. This book contains all the characters and it re-tells essentially the same story but it has been illustrated by Paige Braddock rather than Schulz and adapted by Justine and Ron Fontes and seems to have lost something in the process. The Peanuts gang always was kind of surly with each other, calling names like Blockhead, pulling footballs out from each other and laughing at one another's expense. In this story, of course, Linus is the brunt of the teasing because he has undying faith in the mythical Great Pumpkin. For years I loved watching the Charlie Brown cartoon specials, the catchy piano jazz theme and the short, big-headed kids with their flat feet and funny facial expressions. Who could help loving Snoopy as the Red Baron or little Woodstock? These cartoons have always had a decidedly adult sense of humor, sometimes rather dark humor even though children the world over have loved the cartoon kids themselves.
This book doesn't work, in my opinion, precisely because it is NOT the TV movie. As a picture book it is placed directly into the world of children's literature and as such, the innocence of the readership makes satire seem inappropriate and it comes off as bad-tempered, impatient and indifferent to the feelings of others. This is not something I want to convey to children and it is not something I like to see done to a classic. Most of the pictures show facial expressions on the kids that are either discouraged, sad, taunting or angry. There's even anguish on one little face. There are only a few smiles.
It is touted as the 35th Anniversary edition but it really doesn't celebrate much of an anniversary because it is an off-shoot of the real thing...sadly not too close to the real thing, in fact. I got this book because I had feelings of fond nostalgia for Linus and his vigil in the pumpkin patch but it made me question why I ever liked it in the first place, and that's sad.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as the Christmas one, September 29, 2006

By 

Dana P. Barrick "Anna" (West Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The Making of a Television Classic (Paperback)

If you own the Christmas edition one then the Great Pumpkin one is in the same format. It has interesting facts, two piano score pages,and the colored story of it. It is worth your money and is good for any Peanuts fans collection.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Re-illustrared for your displeasure..., December 16, 2001

By 

bill b. (the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Paperback)

Um, don't really know who Paige Braddock is, or what she's doing here. When I was young there was a book adaptation which featured artwork from the tv special itself, including Snoopy's wild dogfight with the Red Baron. Tough to support a "newly re-drawn" version, especially one that's done after the creator's passing.