What most people don't know about Charles Schulz is that he drew more than Peanuts. This book is a collection of all the single panel cartoons called Young Pillars that he drew for publications for the Church of God from the mid-1950s through the 1960s. These cartoons largely feature teenagers, which is why Jerry Scott, the writer of Zits, writes the foreward to the book.

This collection of cartoons shows the reader a different side of Schulz. Instead of being philosophical about life as he does so well in Peanuts, in this collection, he uses gag lines about specific situations. One panel shows a teenage girl talking to a friend while her father, dressed in catcher's gear, stands waiting for her. "I've got to go now , Gloria," the teenager says. "My father is ready to give me another driving lesson."

Though some of the cartoons are dated (charge-a-plate instead of credit card), they are all fun to read. The drawings are simple and accentuate the humor.

Though the humor is geared for a Christian audience, Schulz's humor has wide appeal. In one panel where the teens are helping at work day at the church, one teenager says to another, "I may not work very fast, but I sure do a sloppy job."

The main character who is referred to here and there as Harold is a gangly youth with the temperament and insight of Linus. In one panel, He is preparing to bowl, when he tells his date, " I can't seem to get a strike to save my soul, but fortunately the salvation of my soul does not depend on my getting a strike." Schulz's humor and message lies right at the surface and hangs with you for a while.

Since these cartoons are based on situations, I have found myself using them to inject humor into similar situations. ( )