Fourth Grade
Worksheets
That's Life, Charlie Brown - The Story of Charles Schulz
Charles Schulz
Reading Comprehension for November 26
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Is it Mickey? Maybe Garfield? Perhaps, like many people, you like Snoopy best. The Peanuts comic strip is loved the world over. Charlie Brown and the gang were "inked" to life more than sixty years ago. Who would have guessed that the kid with the round, bald head would be so famous?
Charles Schulz sketched much of himself into Charlie Brown. Charlie just never wins in the game of life. The ball always slips through his glove. His kites get eaten by trees. "Good grief!" he sighs. Charlie's shy insecurity came straight from the heart of his creator.
Schulz was raised in an everyday sort of family. His father was a barber, just like Charlie Brown's dad. When Charles was born in 1922, an uncle dubbed him "Sparky." It was short for "Spark Plug," the name of a cartoon horse. Maybe being named after a cartoon helped set the path for Charles's future career!
The boy loved cartoons. He showed an early talent for drawing. "Someday, Charles, you are going to be an artist," his kindergarten teacher said. The young artist did well in his Minneapolis school. In fact, he skipped ahead two grades. In high school, Charles took art lessons by mail.
When he was only fifteen, one of Charles's drawings was published. It was a sketch of Spike, his black and white dog. A few years later, another dog would emerge from Schulz's pen. The quirky beagle and his dog house would become world famous. The beloved Snoopy is a little like the real-life Spike.
