Peanuts by Charles Schulz for August 29, 2020

Why is it worrisome, Charlie Brown, that your father prefers to read something rather than to watch something?

Why is this advice worth 5 cents? Ask Lucy for some further analysis of the situation.

They’re probably worth good money now.

When I was younger, I had Big Little Books about Tom And Jerry, Bugs Bunny, Aquaman, Tarzan, The Fantastic Four, and Journey To The Center Of The Earth(the 1967 animated series, not the 1959 movie).

Makes me think of the Archie Bunker theme song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d8FTPv955I

I was expecting someone to ask what Big Little Books are.

I thought these were old, rerunning cartoons? Apparently this is actually 2020.

Nothing on TV worth watching these days. Better to read a good book.

Let him read….compared to what’s on TV, it seems like a good deal!

Spoiler alert: Along came Sally.

That cold hard cash. Nickels nickels nickels.

Simple but profound. Definitely worth the five cents!

Why is his dad reading Big-Little books?

And why is he sighing?

I used to LOVE “Big Little Books”. When I ended up in the hospital when I was 6, just about everyone got me one or two as a gift. I read them all. I wish I could remember what happened to them.

Charlie should save his money. A real friend would not charge anything.

Dad must have got a glimpse of 2020.

Dad misses his youth.

Pay up, Charlie Brown. That’s the best advice Lucy ever gave.

Schulz did a similar one – CB notes that his dad spends a lot of time in the kitchen eating cereal, looking at his high school yearbooks and sighing. Lucy asks how old he is, CB says he just turned 40. Lucy replies “Nothing to worry about, he’s right on schedule.”

Please ask your father if I can read them when he is done. Sigh…

I’ve been re-reading my large (but incomplete) collection of ‘First Book of…’ books. Still interesting and fun, altho a bit dated in some regards.

Charlie Brown’s father owned a barber shop, could afford a home in a middle class neighborhood and his wife did not have to work.

We all should be like Charlie Brown’s dad these days.

Perhaps he is suffering from depression….

What were the big little books?

I still have all of my dad’s Big-Little -Books from the 30s and the 40s.

What would I tell Charlie Brown? That his father is following a familiar pattern of not liking some things (e.g., television shows) in the present, and looking wistfully to something from the past that gave him more optimism, inspiration, and a sense of wonder. It’s okay, as long as he doesn’t become too attached to what was; there were good and bad things then, and there are good and bad things now. Just count (and appreciate) contemporary blessings, and don’t sweat the bad things. Assign more weight to the good things, and he’ll be happier.

Ask Lucy for 4 and 1/2 half cents back. That’s all her advice is worth