Spanning eleven comic strips in March 1959,Peanutstold the nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat story of Charlie Brown… losing a library book. While that may not sound like the most exciting plot ever to hit paper, it is a high-stakes, life-and-death matter for good old Charlie Brown. As a result, hilarity ensues at Charlie Brown’s completely outlandish fears about the absolute worst happening for him all over a measly little lost book.
Anyone who was a rule-following, by-the-book kind of kid can relate to how Charlie Brown makes a mountain out of a molehill over a slight misplacing of a library book in thisclassicPeanutsstory. Moreover, Charlie Brown gets some emotional support from his friends in their own unique ways during his crisis, adding even more humor to an already funny storyline.
March 2nd, 1959
Realizing that he has lost a library book, Charlie Brown flips out. He has looked all over his house and checked everywhere possible, all to no avail. Lucy, rather than offer to help, adds insult to injury by insisting that if he does not find the library book, then he is “a dead duck.”
Despite imagining herself to be a top-notch psychiatrist,Lucy is rarely ever a source of comfort, especially not to Charlie Brown, despite him being one of her closest friends. Chalk it up to her crabbiness or her overall tendency to struggle with reading a room, but telling an already on-edge Charlie Brown that he is in serious trouble will definitely not put her up for friend of the year.
March 3rd, 1959
Losing the library book causes Charlie Brown to go into a full-on spiral. He regrets ever learning how to read, deriding everyone who told him about the perks of reading.He believes that the next step of reading - taking out library books - is the big scamwhere they really get you - or at least that is what Charlie Brown thinks.
Thinking that all this lost library book business can be traced to learning to read in the first place, Charlie Brown regrets ever learning about vowels and sounding out words.
Then, if a book gets lost, forget it -the adults want to kill you, or at least that is what Charlie Brown seems to have in his round-headed brain. Thinking that all this lost library book business can be traced to learning to read in the first place, Charlie Brown regrets ever learning about vowels and sounding out words. It was not his idea to learn how to read in the first place.
9"Libraries Are Human, Too"
March 4th, 1959
Seeing her pal in such distress,Lucy tries to help in her own Lucy wayand suggests that the library maybe thinks that he stole the book rather than lost it. This suggestion does notmake Charlie Brown feel any betterand instead makes the poor kid pretty upset. He is offended at even the possibility that someone would think he would steal anything.
Lucy reasons that the library does not know Charlie Brown and his good nature; libraries are human after all and capable of making mistakes like the rest of us - well, so they are in Lucy’s mind. Charlie Brown is upset enough about the consequences of losing a library book, but to then possibly be thought of as a thief is too much for Charlie Brown to tolerate.
8"Thief!"
March 5th, 1959
Not at all happy about the way Charlie Brown acted when she brought up the suggestion that the library thinks he stole the lost book, Lucy decides to yell at Charlie Brown when he crosses her path. She not only just yells at him, but she yells “thief” at him, sure to anger the already on-edge Charlie Brown.
Peanuts' Creator Never Trusted Anybody Else’s Opinion of His Work and For Good Reason
Peanuts' Charles M. Schulz admitted that he never trusted anyone’s opinion of his work, and his reasoning is something every creator should follow.
Lucy has decided to take her accusations against Charlie Brown to heart and is now considering him a thief. Starting out the storyline as being a somewhat source of support,things take a turn where Lucy is now judge and jury against her pal. Unfortunately for Charlie Brown, this is not the last time he will be called a thief, especially by Lucy.
7"I Didn’t Steal Their Book!"
March 6th, 1959
Lucy gossips around the neighborhood thatCharlie Brown is a library book-stealing thief. When Violet tells him what Lucy has told her, Charlie Brown, unsurprisingly, does not react well at all, yelling to proclaim his innocence. Violet is taken aback by his reaction and basically tells him that he seriously needs to calm down, which Charlie Brown apologizes for immediately.
When things seem like they have calmed down, Lucy comes in and stirs the pot by whispering in Violet’s ear about what a big-headed thief Charlie Brown is. Not only doesLucy take the time to call Charlie Brown a thief again, but she insults his head sizewhile she is at it.
6"You’re the Only One I Can Talk To"
March 7th, 1959
Kept awake at night by the (irrational) fear that if he does not find the lost library book, then he’ll be killed, Charlie Brown complains to Snoopy about the situation. Kid logic and fears are at work in Charlie Brown, as evidenced by his late night confession toSnoopy.
Nevertheless, Charlie Brown shares with Snoopy that he is the only friend who seems to understand his fears and that Snoopy is the only one he feels he can talk to.Despite pouring his heart out to his pup, he finds Snoopy asleepwhile he is talking mid-sentence, which is not the best feeling in the world.
5"I Think…"
March 9th, 1959
Tired of cowering from the fear that mystery library assassins will get him if he comes clean about losing a book,Charlie Brown resolves to call the libraryand tell them himself that he has lost their book. He tries to pep himself up to go ahead with it, but his fear eventually gets the best of him, and he gets into a funk of self-pity and fear again.
The poor round-headed kid, as Snoopy likes to call him, isso petrified of the imagined consequencesthat he has to bolster himself up to even think about making a phone call to the library. One wonders whereCharlie Brown got the ideathat the library people are as merciless as he imagines them to be over a lost book. Regardless, that thought is stuck in his mind and he, asthisPeanutsstrip clearly shows, cannot get over it easily.
4"Last Night I Dreamed…"
March 10th, 1959
Describing a horrible stress dream he had from all the lost library book anxiety to Violet, Charlie Brown gets overwhelmed just talking about it. As a result, it is all the more ridiculous that, after all the distress he experiences just explaining the dream, he says that he was “sort of glad” when he finally woke up.
Leave it toCharlie Brown to underplaythings despite just seconds previously acting like he was about to have a panic attack and re-experiencing the nightmare all over again.Just talking about the nightmare is enough to make Charlie Brown start sweatingand have a stomachache. Yet, when finishing his dream recap, he acts like it was not that bad of dream. Who knows with Charlie Brown; maybe some strange part of him liked the excitement in the dream, even if he was getting chased over state lines.
3"A Tendency for the Institution to Win"
March 11th, 1959
Linus, being the caring buddy he is (unlike Lucy), asks Charlie Brown if he has found the lost library book that he knows has been bothering his best friend. Charlie Brown hasn’t, buthe drops some cold hard truths about society on Linus; the institution always wins over the lone little guy - the institution, in this case, being the local library.
Instantly hit by the enormity of Charlie Brown’s philosophy, Linus is left a little downtrodden after, which is the kind of effect that Charlie Brown tends to have on people with his Debbie Downer ways. It is a hard realization when one learns that going up against an institution is no easy feat. In fact, it usually seems impossible, which is a piece of knowledge that Charlie Brown seems very well acquainted with. Now, he has passed that information onto Linus, who is clearly shaken.
2"Please Do Not Harm My Mother and Father"
March 12th, 1959
Writing a letter to the library, Charlie Brown bravely writes that he will turn himself in, but not without adding the caveat to please not hurt his parents.Charlie Brown’s imagination is truly out of this world… if not a tad dark. He really thinks the worst of the library people, whom he seems to think are ruthless bounty hunter-type personnel rather than just everyday people.
It speaks to what a good kid he is that, even when Charlie Brown thinks the library could kill him, he still turns himself in - but wants to make sure his parents are safe first.
It speaks to what a good kid he is that, even when Charlie Brown thinks the library could kill him, he still turns himself in - butwants to verify his parents are safe first. However, his neuroticism is clearly at an all-time high in this comic strip, as well as this entire storyline in general, given that he comes close to a nervous breakdown because of a lost library book.
