Book Review: The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Once upon a bicycle,

  So they say,

A Jolly Postman came one day

  From over the hills

And far away...

Summary:

If you've ever wondered what happened after "Happily ever after," then The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters is just what you've been looking for. The Jolly Postman spends his day delivering letters, postcards, and flyers to a variety of familiar fairy tale characters. Each letter is tucked inside an envelope cleverly addressed and illustrated, to be pulled out and read before the postman moves on to his next customer. Who do you suppose wrote to Mr. and Mrs. Bear, of Goldilocks and the Three Bears?  What type of advertisement has the witch in the Gingerbread house so excited? What other characters has he visited, who has invited him in for tea, and how has his day gone? Find this much-loved book, pour some tea, and settle in for a very sweet and interactive story.

For Teachers and Librarians:

Definitely a book for the younger crowd - and it has many possibilities educationally speaking. You can seamlessly work The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters into a fairy tale unit, a letter-writing unit, a careers unit, and perhaps a unit on neighborliness and/or manners. Or, how about as part of a lesson on the post office and how letters get to people's homes, the types of mail delivered, and how this method of delivery compares/contrasts to the way your students receive their mail? Equally important, the kids will delight in reaching into each envelope and pulling out the mysteries hidden inside. Everyone loves receiving mail - but it's especially exciting for the short set, who may not get so much as we in the taller set. Fun to read aloud, this book is also one your charges will clamor over to be able to read on their own. With the fairly simple text and rhyming format, it is a delight to hear as well as a help for kiddos sounding out on their own. 

For Parents, Grandparents and Caregivers:

Your little guys will absolutely love The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters. It is a fun twist on traditional fairy tales - based on stories they already know and love, but with this new and interesting addition of real letters tucked inside real envelopes that add curious new things to the tales. They will have a great time snuggling with you in a chair while you read it to them - just be sure to keep out of the way once it's time to extract each letter. It's doubtful they'll let you do that most fun part yourself!

For the Kids:

Don't you love getting mail? Letters are so fun to open up and read, and here is this book, The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters, full of letters to people like the Three Bears, and Goldilocks, and the Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk. Cool, huh? I wonder who is writing to them? What kind of letters to fairy tale characters get, anyway? Hmmm. The only way to find out is to ask your parents for a trip to the library or bookstore to find this book. Then find a squishy, comfy chair, and get reading (or, have someone read it to you).

Wrapping Up:

The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters is a sweet twist on classic fairy tales, taking the reader for a peek just beyond the stories she already knows. Little guys will adore this book and ask to read it again and again, teachers and librarians will have a wealth of teaching ideas to use it with, and parents and caregivers can rest easy knowing they've provided their little ones with a book that is both fun, interesting, and destined to be a beloved favorite.

Title: The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters

Author: Allan Ahlberg

Illustrator: Janet Ahlberg

Pages: 29

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Publisher and Date: Little, Brown and Company, September 1986

Edition: 1st U.S. Edition

Language: English

Published In: United States

Price: $17.99

ISBN-10: 0316020362

ISBN-13: 978-0316020367

Author Spotlight: Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Janet and Allan Ahlberg - husband and wife, and one of Britain's most successful author/illustrator teams - worked together for over 20 years, writing and illustrating well over 100 award-winning children's books together.

They met in the early 1960's in Sunderland, England - when both studied to be teachers. Allan worked in a range of employment situations (postman, grave digger, soldier, and plumber's mate among them) before becoming a primary teacher for 10 years. 

Janet studied teaching, then went on to study graphic design at Leicester Polytechnic and became an illustrator. She married Allan in 1969. Several years later, she asked Allan to write a children's book for her to illustrate. This began their writing and illustrating career for children in the form of stories, verse, picture books and novels.

Their first three books were The Old Joke Book, The Vanishment of Thomas Tull, and Burglar Bill. By the 1980's, their books were "big news" both in Britain and around the world, and translated into 21 different languages. But The Jolly Postman was their greatest success, sellling over 6 million copies. It took five years to make, and was finally published in 1986, winning numerous awards. 

Janet and Allan Ahlberg created together until, sadly, Janet died of cancer in 1994 at the age of 50. Allan moved to London in 1998, and has continued to write, even collaborating with illustrator daughter Jessica - born to the couple in 1980, and a great inspiration to his and his wife's work.

Sources:

Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Allan Ahlberg - Penguin Books

Allan Ahlberg - Wee Web

Children's Author/Illustrator: Allan Ahlberg

Janet Ahlberg - Wee Web

Interview: Allan Ahlberg

Return Ticket to Newcastle: The Collaborative Work of Janet and Allan Ahlberg

No Comment...

Didja check out the Little-Known Holidays ditty in my sidebar this week?

Mmm hmm.

OK.

Now, didja scan down to the very last day on the list? Check it out:

October 26 is Mother-in-Law's Day.

It's also Mule Day.

Aaaaand National Mincemeat Day.

Well now.

That's...that's somethin,' that is.

And juuuuust a teensy bit funny...

October 21st is Count Your Buttons Day

So I counted mine.

I have 483.

Book Review: A Long Way from Chicago, by Richard Peck

     "Who's doing all this talking?"

     "A real old, humped-over lady with buck teeth," Mary Alice said.

     "Cross-eyed? Grandma said. "That'd be Effie Wilcox. You think she's ugly now, you should have seen her as a girl. And she'd talk you to death. Her tongue's attached in the middle and flaps at both ends." Grandma was over by the screen door for a breath of air.

     "They said he'd notched his gun in six places," I said, pushing my luck. "They said the notches were either for banks he'd robbed or for sheriffs he'd shot."

     "Was that Effie again? Never trust an ugly woman. She's got a grudge against the world," said Grandma, who was no oil painting herself.

Summary:

Joey Dowdel and his sister Mary Alice are first shipped off to visit their Grandma Dowdel in the summer of 1929. Being city kids from Chicago, they are none too pleased to be packed off to the boonies for a visit with a grandmother they hadn't seen since they were "tykes." 

But Grandma Dowdel is no ordinary Grandma, and these two kids learn to always expect the unexpected. This town they first saw as sleepy and dull transformed in their eyes all through helping Grandma carry out her plans. She squeezes off a couple of rounds from her shotgun - right in her own living room. She teaches a family of bullies a lesson they won't soon forget. She strong-arms a banker into returning something rightfully belonging to someone else - and demands a few bucks for the grandkids for good measure. 

Over the years, and beneath that steely exterior, Joey and Mary Alice start to see a whole new and surprising side to Grandma Dowdel. And they begin to look forward to each summer adventure, always wondering: what will she be up to next?

For Teachers and Librarians:

A Long Way from Chicago is a novel broken up into eight short stories - one for each summer Joey and his sister spent a week with Grandma Dowdel. Joey tells the stories as he remembers them many years later. It is full of out loud laughs, poignant moments, bittersweet memories, and complicated relationships. Here is a novel you will relish reading out loud as much as your students relish hearing it.

Kids who struggle through full-length novels will enjoy this book's format, being able to read it in small chunks that each are a story in and of themselves. It may even encourage them to try longer works, once they find how fun this book is to read.  

You will find much to work with here from a curriculum standpoint. The book is set from 1929 through 1942, and touches on life during the Great Depression, rural life in Illinois, Chicago gangsters, the World Wars, economics, human nature, relationships, community politics... Where will you choose to use this book? With so many ways to go, you really can't go wrong in using A Long Way from Chicago to supplement your lessons - or in wrapping your lessons around reading the book.  

  

For Parents, Grandparents and Caregivers:

Grandparents and Great-Grandparents may find themselves reliving memories of their own while reading this with their kiddos. Parents will like the life lessons Joey and Mary Alice learn from their eccentric but principled grandmother. It is a lot of fun to read, so don't be surprised when they snicker and laugh out loud while curled up on the couch with it. 

Written in short-story-collection format, this book may encourage your more reluctant readers to stick with it. Maybe it will even inspire them to pick up other books. If they like A Long Way from Chicago, they will be happy to know there is a sequel: A Year Down Yonder, that continues to tell of Grandma Dowdel and the hilarious situations she orchestrates.

For the Kids:

Laugh out loud funny! Totally. You will seriously wish you had a grandma like Grandma Dowdel. She bakes a mean gooseberry pie, but isn't afraid to squeeze off a few rounds of her shotgun when necessary. She gives the bullies what for, but they don't even know what (or who) hit them. She's rough around the edges, but she gets what she believes is right, and soon Joey and Mary Alice see how much she really does care about people. Even people they thought were her enemies. Pick up a copy of A Long Way from Chicago and see for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

For Everyone Else:

A Long Way from Chicago is a novel marketed to older kids and young adults, but the rest of us will get a kick out of it, too. Senior citizens will be able to relate to the time period (1929-1942) and may even want to spin a few yarns about their own lives back then. Middle age adults will get a better sense of all that stuff they heard about as kids and read about in school. 

Wrapping Up: 

Everyone will love Grandma Dowdel. She is truly one of a kind, and this is a book not to be missed.

Title: A Long Way from Chicago

Author: Richard Peck

Pages: 176

Reading Level: Ages 8-12

Publisher and Date: Penguin Young Readers Group, October 2000

Edition: paperback

Language: English

Published In: United States

Price: $6.99

ISBN-10: 0141303522

ISBN-13: 978-0141303529

Author Spotlight: Richard Peck

Richard Peck has this advice to young people hoping to be writers: "get to know people who don't conform to the group" (from the Carol Hurst article referenced below) - a common theme in many of his own titles.

Mr. Peck writes middle grade through young adult novels, but he did not start out as a writer. He earned his bachelor's degree in English from DePauw University, spending his junior year abroad at the University of Exeter. Drafted into the US Army after college, he spent two years in Stuttgart, Germany. 

Upon completion of his master's degree from Southern Illinois University in 1959, he taught junior high and high school English. However, he didn't like dealing with the behavior issues and other problems, so he left teaching in 1971 to write, using his experiences in teaching as material. His first novel, Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, was published by Holt in 1972.

He says of that time in his life:

"Ironically, it was my students who taught me to be a writer, though I was hired to teach them."

Richard Peck has written more than 32 books from middle grade through young adult. He writes in a wide variety of genres, among them: horror, mystery, occult, social commentary, historical, and realism. He types all his books exclusively on an electric typewriter, explaining in a 2003 interview with Publisher's Weekly that, "it has to be a book from the first day."

He has received numerous honors and awards, including a Newbery Honor and a National Book Award nomination in 1999 for A Long Way From Chicago, and a Newbery Medal in 2001 for its sequel: A Year Down Yonder.

Richard Peck was born April 5, 1934 in Decatur, Illinois, where he also grew up. He currently lives in New York, splitting his time between writing and traveling.

Sources: 

Richard Peck - Wikipedia

Richard Peck: A Long Way from Decatur

Featured Author: Richard Peck (CarolHurst.com)

Author Richard Peck '56 Wins Coveted Newbery Medal

Richard Peck '56 Contributes to Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out

Return to Sender

I watched two of the three Presidential debates. I watched the Vice Presidential debate. I see the frequent campaign ads on TV. I read the campaign ads in print media. I read articles on the Presidential race in both digital and print forms.

In each case, I have been bombarded by negative campaigning. 

It's getting a little old.

Well.

Today, I sent Handsome Boy out to get the mail for me. He came tromping back from the mailbox with a fistful of bills, advertising flyers, a community magazine...

...and a Presidential campaign flyer, sent from a candidate's National Committee, and approved by that candidate. It was negative, and attacked the candidate's opponent and his policies. 

Serendipity: said flyer had a mailing address on it. 

Charging into my office, I scribbled out a frustrated missive. Then I took a deep breath, crumpled that missive, recycled it, and fired up the computer. Here is what I typed (with actual candidate names removed):

To Whom It May Concern:

I received this mailing today, and here is why I am sending it back to you: I am quite tired of candidates telling me how bad their opponent is.

If (Candidate A) wants my vote, then he needs to show me why he is the better choice to be President of the United States, not tell me why he believes (Candidate B) isn't. (Candidate A) needs to show me how he will improve this country, and not tell me how he believes (Candidate B) will make it worse.

I'm not interested in what (Candidate A) believes about (Candidate B). I'm interested in what (Candidate A) intends to do for his country, should he be elected.

Show. Don't tell.

Sincerely,

Kimberly S. Wheedleton

I printed it. I signed it. I folded it. I stuffed it in an envelope. 

I stuffed the negative campaign ad in there, too. 

Then I sealed the envelope.

And I'm mailing the whole shebang right back to them bright and early Friday morning.