May 19th, 2026
My five-year-old grandson, Asher, loves Peanuts. I am referring to the classic comic strip from Charles M. Schultz, not the snack food, although Asher does like to eat actual peanuts now and then. Asher asks me every day to read to him about Snoopy. He also likes Peppermint Patty and her sidekick, Marcie. I don’t think that Asher gets all the jokes, and honestly, I don’t either.
I grew up with Peanuts ages ago. The comic strip ran for fifty years (1950 to 2000). The Charlie Brown books I read in the 1960’s were different than what I am reading now to Asher. The books I bought for him contain comics from the 80’s and 90’s. The early cartoons from Schultz had a sort of wild imagination and incurable curiosity that is common for little kids. The comics from decades later still have some of that innocence, but it often feels more like the characters in the comic are adults masquerading as children.
It kind of reminds me of the evolution of Calvin and Hobbes. Early on, Bill Watterson wrote stories that were authentically childlike. The tales were silly and madcap, but also true to life for a small child. Watterson remembered what it was like to be a little boy, and his main character, Calvin, showed that. Eventually, Calvin became much more mature and the magic was gone. The difference between Schultz and Watterson is that Watterson knew when to quit.
I am not saying that Schultz’s later comics were bad. He could still be hilarious and often thoughtful. However, some of the comics are definitely for adults. He wrote about Snoopy being a lawyer. How is that relevant to a five-year-old? How do I explain those stories to Asher? A lot of the comic strips are about golf. I have never played golf, so I don’t understand the jokes. If I don’t get them, how can Asher hope to relate?
Even in the old days, Schultz had his cartoon kids, especially Linus, spouting Bible verses in the comic strips. I did not get the jokes back in my childhood and Asher certainly does not get them now. Back in my youth, adults often had some level of biblical literacy, so the big people might laugh at those comics. Now, most of the biblical references are obscure to the general population. Maybe, Bible humor was part of Schultz’s culture, but it’s not anymore.
There are also issues with technology in the drawings. Some of the comics have pay phones in them. Asher has no clue what they are. The televisions look like huge pieces of furniture. Nowhere are there computers or cell phones. These are images of a time that is foreign to my grandson.
There are differences of social etiquette between the Schultz’s times and the present day. The kids in Peanuts always call an adult “sir” or “ma’am”. Who does that now? Unless you live in the Deep South or are in the military, nobody uses those terms. Maybe we should, but we don’t anymore. Asher calls his kindergarten teacher “Miss Sara”, but he would never call her “ma’am”.
Apparently, none of this really matters for Asher. He just loves to hear about the adventures of Snoopy and the gang. In that sense, Peanuts is timeless.
Frank is Emptiness 