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  Chapter One

  Snow Day!

  The first snowflakes fell right at dawn. They tumbled down from the gray sky, along with one fluffy yellow bird.

  Woodstock somersaulted through the air, trying to dodge the snowflakes. But they settled on his wings, slowing him down. He came in for a landing on top of a pile of snow. A large, dog-shaped pile of snow.

  The mound of snow underneath the little bird exploded, sending Woodstock shooting up into the air. When he landed again, he was on top of a doghouse—and face-to-face with a black-and-white beagle.

  Snoopy let out a happy cry and the two best friends hugged. It was going to be a good day.

  Snoopy and Woodstock were the first to wake up in the neighborhood, but the others weren’t far behind. Alarms rang from house to house as kids got up to get ready for a day of school.

  Marcie groggily sat up, put on her glasses, and turned off the alarm.

  Over at her house, Peppermint Patty sprang up and grabbed the hockey stick by her bedside. Then the freckle-faced girl used it to smash her alarm clock to pieces.

  At Schroeder’s house, the blond-haired boy slowly woke up to the calming sounds of classical music written by his favorite composer. He sat up and smiled.

  “Ahh. Beethoven.”

  And in a house nearby, Lucy Van Pelt was up and out of bed like a shot, as always. She went straight into her brother Linus’s room. He was still sleeping peacefully, clutching his pale-blue blanket in his arms.

  “Linus, time to get up,” she whispered.

  Linus kept sleeping.

  “You don’t want to be late for school,” Lucy warned gently.

  But Linus still didn’t wake up. Lucy’s dark eyes narrowed. She yanked the blanket away from him.

  “GET UP!” Lucy yelled.

  Linus leaped out of bed. “Ah! My blanket!”

  Next door, at Charlie Brown’s house, the phone rang. His little sister, Sally, answered it.

  “Hello?” she asked.

  “Waa waa waaa,” said the voice on the other end.

  “Snow day?” Sally repeated. Could it be true? It was! “Snow day!”

  Sally let go of the phone and jumped into the air.

  “No school today!” she cheered. Then she picked up her schoolbooks from the kitchen table and happily tossed them into the garbage can.

  Word of the snow day spread like wildfire around the neighborhood. Minutes later, kids began to stream out of their houses, dressed in winter coats, mittens, and scarves. They carried hockey sticks and ice skates. Snoopy and Woodstock watched as they ran past the doghouse, headed for Charlie Brown’s house. Snoopy broke into a happy dance. Snow days were so much fun!

  The kids began to talk excitedly.

  “Franklin and Peppermint Patty are on my team!” announced Lucy. Whenever they played hockey, Lucy always got to be a captain—and she always made sure she got first pick of her teammates.

  “I got my hockey stick!” Schroeder cried, waving it in the air.

  “I got my skates!” said Franklin.

  “Who has the pucks?” Peppermint Patty asked.

  Next to her stood a girl named Patty—just Patty. Even though they had almost the same name, it was easy to tell them apart. Peppermint Patty had brown hair and freckles, and Patty had light brown hair and no freckles.

  Patty pointed to a boy walking toward the group. Even though it was snowing, clouds of dirt puffed up as he walked.

  “Here comes our goalie!” she called out as Pigpen approached.

  Patty’s best friend, Violet, shook her head. “Pigpen, were you born dirty?”

  Pigpen ignored the comment. He looked at Charlie Brown’s house. “What’s taking him so long?”

  “Come on, Charlie Brown!” the others yelled.

  Inside the house, Charlie Brown struggled to put on his winter gear. In the spring, summer, and fall, getting dressed was so much easier. He just slipped on black shorts and his favorite yellow shirt with the black zigzag pattern, and he was done. But winter was harder. Winter meant boots that he couldn’t squeeze over his feet and puffy jackets with a zipper that always got stuck and mittens that he always lost.

  The sound of his friends outside faded as Charlie Brown hurried to put on his boots, coat, and hat. When he finally finished, he rushed outside.

  “Hey, guys, wait for me!” he cried.

  But everyone was gone. They had all left for the pond without him. Charlie Brown’s excitement deflated like a balloon.

  Then Charlie Brown looked up at the sky. The snow was starting to slow down, and the sun was starting to shine through the parting clouds.

  “This could be the day,” he said hopefully.

  He dashed back inside and grabbed his newest kite. Then he ran down to the open field, which was perfect for kite flying. He jammed the kite into a snowbank and then walked away from it, unraveling the string as he went.

  “A new kite, a gentle breeze—it all feels just right,” Charlie Brown said. “Now that the Kite-Eating Tree is sleeping for the winter, we have nothing to fear.”

  Charlie Brown loved to fly kites. But the Kite-Eating Tree always spoiled his fun. In spring, summer, and fall, the tree came alive. Charlie Brown was almost certain that it used its branches like claws to snatch his kites out of the sky. But now that it was winter and the tree was quietly resting, he might just have a chance.

  Charlie Brown looked up at the sky again as he unraveled the string. The sun was even brighter now.

  “Some days you can just feel when everything is going to turn out all right,” he said.

  Holding the reel at the end of the string, he faced the kite, which was still sticking out of the snowbank. Then he took a deep breath, turned, and ran as fast as he could.

  “Liftoff!” he yelled.

  The kite shot out of the snowbank. Charlie Brown looked behind him to see the kite dragging in the snow.

  “Wait a minute . . . ,” he said, fumbling with the reel. He wrapped some string around it and the kite slowly lifted into the air. Then . . . whoosh! A gust of wind picked it up and sent it soaring.

  “It’s in the air,” he said, barely believing it. “It’s flying!”

  Holding the string, Charlie Brown raced to the top of a nearby hill. The kite soared above him on the breeze. Down below, he could see his friends playing hockey on the iced-over pond.

  “Hey, guys! Look! Look! I did it!” he called down. But his friends were too busy with their hockey game to notice.

  It didn’t matter. The smile on his face grew bigger and bigger. He was doing it!

  Suddenly, he felt something yank on his feet. He looked down to see that the string had wrapped around his boots! He lost his balance and slipped, sliding down the hill. He landed on the frozen pond and slid across the ice on his belly like a seal. He finally came to a stop in front of his best friend, Linus.

  Linus, still clutching his blanket, looked down at his friend.

  “Hey, Charlie Brown. You still can’t get that kite to fly, huh?” he asked.

  At that very moment a strong gust of wind blew. The kite smacked into the back of poor Charlie Brown’s head and then launched into the air, taking Charlie Brown along with it. Linus watched him go.

  “Remember, it’s the courage to continue that counts!” he called aft
er his friend.

  The kite dragged Charlie Brown across the ice at superspeed. The hockey players had to quickly skate out of the way to avoid being hit by him. Charlie Brown managed to get to his feet, holding on tightly to the string. He tried to steer the kite toward the shore.

  Up ahead, Lucy was doing figure-skating tricks on the ice, surrounded by a group of kids. She twirled around and then raced across the pond, building up speed.

  “And now, for my famous Triple Axel!” she cried. “Prepare to be amazed.”

  She hopped on her right foot, ready to leap. Then . . . wham! Charlie Brown crashed right into her! She twirled three times and landed on her butt as the kids clapped and cheered.

  Charlie Brown kept going. He slid across the pond, headed right for a very big tree.

  The kite got stuck in the tree, with Charlie Brown still tangled in the string. The string whipped around and around the tree with Charlie Brown still dangling from the end.

  Whomp! An avalanche of snow fell from the branches above, revealing old pieces of kites wedged into the branches. When Charlie Brown finally stopped swinging around the tree, he was hanging upside down from one of the branches, next to his kite.

  “Ugh,” Charlie Brown moaned. “Stupid Kite-Eating Tree!”

  Lucy skated up to him, followed by the other kids. “You blockhead!” she yelled. “I should have known. What kind of a person tries to fly a kite in the middle of winter? You will never get that kite to fly. Why? Because you’re Charlie Brown!”

  Chapter Two

  Batter Up!

  Lucy tapped Charlie Brown’s forehead. He swung back and forth as he dangled from the tree branch. Then she skated away, and the other kids followed her.

  Only Linus stayed behind. He moved to Charlie Brown and placed his hand on Charlie Brown’s forehead, stopping him.

  “Thanks, Linus,” Charlie Brown said.

  “Listen, Charlie Brown. Ignoring what my sister Lucy says has enabled me to make it this far in life,” Linus said.

  Charlie Brown managed a smile. “You’re the best, Linus. What would I do without a good friend like you?”

  At that moment Snoopy skated up to Linus. He grabbed Linus’s blanket and pulled him back onto the pond, whipping him around by the blanket.

  “Whooooaaa!” Linus cried.

  His hand accidentally grabbed Sally’s. Her eyes lit up. Linus, her crush, was holding her hand!

  “Aww, my Sweet Babboo!” Sally said, calling him by the nickname she loved to use.

  Linus looked back to see that he was holding Sally’s hand. He shrieked and dropped it, sending Sally spinning off into a snowbank. Sally sat up and brushed off the snow.

  “Isn’t he the cutest thing?” she asked with a sigh.

  Marcie wobbled as she slowly skated around the pond. Peppermint Patty glided around her, holding a hockey stick.

  “Uh, careful, sir,” Marcie said, looking past her freckle-faced friend.

  Snoopy and Linus whizzed by, and Linus grabbed Peppermint Patty’s hand. Then Peppermint Patty’s hockey stick snagged Marcie. A game of crack the whip was forming—a line of skaters holding hands as they sped across the ice. One by one, new skaters were pulled onto the line: Frieda, with the naturally curly hair; dark-haired Shermy; Schroeder; Lucy; Franklin; and finally, Pigpen, followed by a cloud of dust.

  Zoom! The crack-the-whip line sped across the pond. Woodstock, driving a Zamboni to clean the ice, waved to them.

  The kids were going so fast they couldn’t hold on to each other anymore. The whip cracked, sending the kids scattering across the ice.

  By this time Charlie Brown had freed himself from the Kite-Eating Tree. Still tangled in kite string, he carefully walked across the slippery pond in his boots as his friends skated happily around him.

  Charlie Brown left the pond and walked through the snow to the baseball field. He sat down on a bench and began to untangle the string around his body, winding it into a ball as he worked. When he finished, it was the exact size of a baseball.

  Inspired, Charlie Brown stood up.

  “I don’t care what Lucy says. I may have had trouble in the past flying a kite, and I may have never won a baseball game, but it’s not for the lack of trying,” he said out loud.

  He walked around the baseball field, stopping at the snow-covered pitcher’s mound.

  “My pitching has to improve if I come out here to my trusty mound under the snow every day,” he said, standing on the mound.

  Then he walked straight ahead until he found home plate. He dusted the snow from the plate and then began to build a snowman. It looked like a batter, with a cap on his head and a bat in his hands.

  “Charlie Brown is not a quitter,” he said, admiring his work. As he marched back to the mound, he looked around. Things weren’t quite complete. . . .

  Charlie Brown got to work on more snowmen. By the time he finished, he had made eight more baseball players and three base runners and placed them on the field in their proper positions.

  Snoopy and Woodstock watched him curiously. Woodstock climbed up and sat in the bleachers, surrounded by mini snowmen. Snoopy donned a baseball cap. Every good team needed a manager.

  Snoopy walked out of the dugout, made a snowball, and handed it to Charlie Brown, who nodded and walked back to the pitcher’s mound.

  “Bottom of the ninth. Two outs. Bases loaded,” Charlie Brown said, eyeing the snowman batter. In his mind, he could hear the crowd roar with excitement.

  “It all comes down to one pitch,” Charlie Brown said. He looked at Snoopy in the dugout, and Snoopy held up one finger.

  Charlie Brown knew the signal: fastball. He started to wind up, when Snoopy held up a second finger.

  Okay, curveball, Charlie Brown thought. He wound up again. . . .

  Then Snoopy held up four fingers and wiggled them.

  What’s that one, again? Charlie Brown wondered. But before he could even think about another pitch, Snoopy made a peace sign. Then he crossed his fingers. Then he held up all of his fingers and wiggled them.

  Charlie Brown shook his head. Snoopy wasn’t making any sense, and besides, he didn’t need Snoopy to tell him how to pitch.

  He had this.

  He held the ball behind his back, staring down the batter.

  “Let’s see if you can handle my fastball,” he said.

  He wound up. He sent the snowball flying . . . and it rocketed back to him! The snowball batter had hit a line drive without even moving!

  Pow! The snowball knocked over Charlie Brown, ripping his clothes from his body.

  Pow! The snowball hit the snowman center fielder, and the snowman exploded in a cloud of snow. Then it put a hole in the outfield fence!

  Charlie Brown slowly sat up. The tiny snowmen in the bleachers were all frowning. Frustrated, Snoopy threw his hat on the ground.

  Charlie Brown lay back down on the snowy mound, staring into the wintry sky.

  “It’s going to be a long winter,” he said with a sigh.

  Chapter Three

  A New Neighbor

  The blare of a truck horn got Charlie Brown’s attention. He sat up and saw a moving truck rumble down the street. It pulled into the driveway of a house near the baseball field.

  “Someone’s moving in across the street from me?” Charlie Brown wondered.

  Curious to see the new neighbors, the kids ran past Charlie Brown, their ice skates slung over their shoulders.

  “Hey, gang, look. There’s a new kid moving in!” Franklin called out.

  “I’m going to get there first!” someone else shouted as the kids scrambled to be the first to see the new neighbors.

  Charlie Brown got up, got dressed, and followed them. They stopped at the wooden fence behind the house and peered through the cracks. Charlie Brown tried to get a view, but he couldn’t push his way in.

  “Hey, guys. What do you see? Who is it?” Charlie Brown asked.

  “Oh! Oh! I think I see a piano!” Schroeder said excite
dly. “I hope he loves Beethoven!”

  “Beethoven Schmeetoven,” Lucy said. She had her own idea of whom the new kid might be—a boy presenting her with a bouquet of flowers and a heart-shaped box of chocolates. “Maybe he will appreciate all my natural beauty.”

  “Who cares about that?” Peppermint Patty asked. “As long as he’s a better goalie than Marcie.”

  “A goalie, sir?” asked Marcie. “I hope he has a passion for the arts. Shakespeare, da Vinci, van Gogh!”

  “That van isn’t going anywhere,” Sally observed. Then she brightened. “He may have a swimming pool in there!”

  Charlie Brown was dying to get a look over that fence. He rolled up a giant snowball and then stood on top of it so he could see. A new kid could mean a new friend! Then he started to worry.

  “I just hope this new kid has never heard of me,” he said to himself. “He would know nothing of my past imperfections. It’s not often you get the opportunity to start over with a clean slate. This time things will be different.”

  The fence creaked as he leaned over to get a good look. Then . . .

  Crash! The wooden fence fell over! The new neighbors could see them!

  “He did it!” the other kids said, pointing to Charlie Brown. Then they ran off, leaving Charlie Brown standing there all alone to take the blame.

  Charlie Brown stood frozen for a moment. Then he ran back to his house as fast as he could.

  That night, he talked to Snoopy as he got ready for bed.

  “Snoopy, why is it that everything I try turns out wrong?” he wondered. “Sometimes I worry that nobody really likes me.”

  Charlie Brown crawled under the covers.

  “Maybe that new kid will see me for who I really am, like you,” Charlie Brown told Snoopy. “A dog doesn’t try to give advice, or judge you; they just love you for who you are. It’s nice to have someone who will just sit and listen to you.”

  Charlie Brown turned his head to look at Snoopy—who was snoring away. Then Snoopy rolled over, stealing all the covers from Charlie Brown.