Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday

Today is Shrove Tuesday, or, as it is known in the French speaking world and sometimes elsewhere, Mardi Gras. I was not sure what to share today about it, so I just thought instead of just picture of pancakes (by the way I refuse to call today Pancake Day), I would share one page from Charlie Brown's Fourth Super Book of Questions and Answers. One of the best sources of information I had as a child, before the internet, even though a friend of mine had the on people and culture. Anyway, so there is more info on the next page, but all the same, here is some interesting facts about today.

About the Great Pumpkin

I thought I would give my readers something heartwarming for today's countdown to Halloween. I found on YouTube this video giving quite a lot of information about It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.It tells you a few trivial facts, but also explains why it became such beloved Halloween classic for children and why it is so compelling, even today. I, of course, really love it.

 

Halloween explained to children

Halloween is here and before it is over, I wanted to share with you two pages from Charlie Brown's Fourth Super Book of Questions and Answers. A friend of mine had it and thought little of the book (or Halloween). I was fascinated by the book and had been wanting it since then. As it is out of print, I am sharing it here today.

More than 50 years of the Great Pumpkin

For today's countdown to Halloween post, another reading suggestion: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I mean the book adaptation (novelization?) for its 50th anniversary (which was in 2016, if you'd like to know). Okay so it's basically the beloved children's classic in book form. It's funny, witty, sweet, atmospheric, with just a hint of sadness. I bought it to Wolfie because in this country, it's hard to actually watch the original on the telly. he did it only once, last year, and he loved it. So this book allows us to enjoy the Great Pumpkin every year.

ZHON-bah-TEEST

Today is Saint John the Baptist's Day, Québec's National Day. I thought I would give my Anglophone readership a bit of information about it, I found this tidbit in Charlie Brown's Fourth Super Books of Questions and Answers. I love the book, but the information on it regarding my nation and my people is grossly out of date. In fact, even when the book was published, it was inaccurate. Still, it gave me a good laugh, so I am sharing it here with you today.

May Day (and Maypoles)

Today is May Day, so happy May Day everyone. Here it has to be a happy one from the start: it is a bank holiday. It also a time for Maypoles, but I have never seen any in real life. Even though I have been living about 20 years in this country. All the same, here is one from a picture in Charlie Brown's Fourth Book of Questions and Answers. Snoopy and Woodstock are very cute, as always.

Countdown to Halloween, the book

For today's countdown to Halloween reading suggestion, a book aptly called... Countdown to Halloween. And for once it's not horror but something for the whole family to enjoy. I bought it for Wolfie's birthday and we have been reading it since the beginning of October. it is a sort of Advent calendar for Halloween, with the Peanuts gang, one story a day, including the big day. It's just not Halloween without Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the rest. And for a North American like me who grew up with them, I find it important to share this with my son.

May Day, Maypole and Snoopy

 Today is May Day. And what better way to celebrate it than with a Maypole, albeit a virtual one (and a drawn one at that) and of course Snoopy and the Peanut gang. I got this image from Charlie Brown's Fourth Book of Questions and Answers. They have a short entry on May Day, giving little info, but the sweetest image to go with it. You just can't go wrong with a cheerful Snoopy.

Why Saint-Patrick's Day?

Happy Saint Paddy's Day everyone! I will not be able to celebrate much this year sadly, because of this and because I am still recovering from a cold. But I am sharing with you two pages from Charlie Brown's Fourth Super Book of Questions and Answers. It gives you a lot of info about Saint Patrick's Day, and it's aimed at children, so it should also be a reminder that today is not only about drinking (although that can be fun too).

For Auld Lang Syne

Today is the New Year, so Happy New year everyone! And of course as it is tradition I am sharing with you Auld Lang Syne. Brought you this year by the Peanuts gang.

Two Sinister Witches

For tonight's countdown to Halloween post, I am blogging again about this book, Charlie Brown's Fourth Super Books of Questions and Answers. Not the book itself, but a specific picture in the book. As I mentioned before, I was obsessed as a child with its section on Halloween. I did not have the book myself, a friend of mine had, and I tried to check it every time I could when I was visiting him. He thought very little of it. And there was a picture in there, not of the Peanuts gang but of two witches around a cauldron, tending it, that both terrified and fascinated me. I think it gave me a few nightmares, yet I still wanted to know more about them. I don't know where they took this picture, but I was shocked to see in a book featuring my beloved comics characters something so lifelike and belonging to a horror story. I look at it today and it still gives me shivers. I know there is a scary story or more to be written about these two obviously evil witches.

Is there really a Great Pumpkin?

I blogged back in September about Charlie Brown's Book of Questions and Answers Book series, and the fourth book in particular, which I always wanted to have. There are many reasons for it and I am sharing one now: there is a whole section about Halloween in it. A whole section with a lot of useful information, some strips from Peanuts and some really, really, really gorgeous pictures not related to the comic strip. It has been haunting me, literally, ever since childhood, so I am so, so, so happy to own a copy of the book now. I will probably come back to it another time, right now I just wanted to share with you this very important question about the holiday: "Is there really a Great Pumpkin?" The book provides the best possible answer, based on all the knowledge we have on this subject which is so important for Halloween lovers.

Charlie Brown's Books of Questions and Answers

I don't know if I am the only one remembering them, but back in the days, like inthe early 80s, there was a series of books, called "Charlie Brown's Great Books of Questions and Answers" It featured the Peanuts gangs in their usual comic strips, of course, but with lots of educational articles about thigns: means of transports, biology, traditions, etc. We had the book on transports, I remember one of my friends had a few of them, including the fourth one, about customs and traditions in various cultures around the world. It is the one I liked the mos and I spent a lot of time reading it when I was visiting him (I know, I was a lousy, socially inept friend). He thought little of it, but then again he was not as much of a reader as I am. Anyway, I found it online, second-handed, at a decent price, so I decided to buy it for my son, because I think it is quite educational. Yes, that's the excuse. I have another reason which I will explain in another post, when I receive it. But going through this will taking another pleasant trip through memory lane.

The Great Pumpkin t-shirt

For today's countdown to Halloween post, another proof that social media know me too much. I don't think this is an official Peanuts by-product, but anyway I found it on my Facebook feed once. And I would love to have this tshirt. I have no pieceof clothing that specifically refers to Halloween and this one would be just fine, with its reference to It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Okay, so there is no official reference to the classic cartoon, but there is Snoopy in various disguises and Jack O'Lanterns and that's good enough for me.

It's the Great Pumpkin Train!

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a rather unique topic, which I blogged about in 2013. It brings three things together: my love of trains, my love of Halloween and my love of Peanuts comics. So I saw again on the Facebook page of LGB this car that is an homage to It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. And I want it. Badly.

Sally, Snoopy and How Do I Love Thee

To celebrate Valentine's Day, I shared tonight a scene from Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. A reading/performance by Sally Brown and Snoopy of the poem How Do I Love Thee from Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Watching the cartoon as  child (a classic by the way), I never noticed how cultured this scene was, but I knew it was hilarious. Kudos for Sally's reading skills. She has very good eyesight too. And Snoopy is quite a charmer.

Maybe we should...

I love many characters from Peanuts, but one I have grown a particular soft spot for since I am an adult is Peppermint Patty. And this came on my Facebook feed recently. I don't know from which strip it is from, although I think she is at school and trying to dodge exam or work or something, but I thought it reflects the state of mind of many these days, including me. Maybe we should forget IT, whatever IT is, and just send out for a pizza. Good on you Patty.

Snoopy's Wisdom

As it is still autumn (at least in theory), I decided to share a comic strip from Peanuts, featuring Snoopy and his often quiet and bird talking friend Woodstock. Snoppy has always been my favourite character, I love his mythomania and his attitude. Sometimes, he can also be very wise, as in this strip when he describes autumn. it is indeed a transitional season, when you have to keep moving. Not like Woodstock to avoid leaves, but to keep warm. Anyway, I thought it was a good way to describe my favourite season.

September Equinox

Like last year, I am celebrating the arrival of the Autumnal Equinox with a meme from the characters of Charles M. Schulz. Of course, for me autumn starts with the first of September and I call it autumn, not Fall, which sounds like, well, a fall. But in any case, happy autumnal equinox and watch this space, as Vraie Fiction will take the colours and mood of autumn. More than it already is, I mean. After all, it is my favourite season.

The "back to school" feeling in one image

I found this image in one of the many Facebook fan pages of the Peanuts comics, with Marcie shopping for school. I do not know the rest of the strip where it is from, all the same it fascinates me, because it illustrates this time of year perfectly. August is the month of blues, when the school holidays are ending and we have already to prepare for the return to classes. So that means go and shop for stationary. It means putting your mind on school things while you are still on holidays. In a word, it gives you the "back to school" feeling, aka the blues of August. I hated it then and even as a grownup who does not go to school, I hate it now. Because it is still stuck in my psyche.