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I’m super excited that YiLing Chen-Josephson from The Picture Book Club is here to share picture books about mail. It’s a fitting post because the subscription service is all about two wonderful things: books and mail!
YiLing, take it away!
There has never been a time in my life when I haven’t loved mail. I can still remember what day of the week each of the family’s magazine subscriptions would arrive, and the names of all the companies — many long since shuttered — whose catalogs I would pore over. As I got older and started to write and receive letters of my own, the prospect of mail took on a whole new richness of anticipation.
Even now,with so many communication options available to us, I love the mail. Especially now, in this age of instant gratification, I feel like there’s something important about having to wait for something to arrive. Part of the impetus of The Picture Book Club was to create a gift that would unfurl over time and that would arrive, of course, through the mail.
I’m thrilled that Danielle has asked me to share a few of my favorite picture books about mail.
If there’s one thing (besides mail and picture books, of course) that I’m a sucker for it’s intricately-imagined drawings of animals’ homes. This book had me at hello.
Peter decides to write a letter to his friend Amy to invite her to his birthday party because it will be more special than asking her in person. Keats’s nuanced exploration of the joys and challenges of being 7 is a thing of beauty.
The fun of this book, which details the correspondence received by familiar nursery rhyme characters, is that actual envelopes are affixed to its pages. Open them to find letters, postcards, catalogs, and gifts!
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, pictures by David Small (1996).
This touching story of a Depression-era girl who is sent to live with her uncle in the city is told entirely through her letters home.
Leo is a mailman who longs to one day receive a letter of his own. A sweet story about loneliness and friendship, accompanied by Ruzzier’s typically hypnotic illustrations.
A lovely evocation of life on a tiny Scottish island.
YiLing Chen-Josephson reads hundreds of picture books every month. Her favorites make their way to other families via The Picture Book Club, the subscription service she runs. The Picture Book Club offers completely customizable subscriptions as well as themed packages such as Around the World in 12 Books and the Big Sibling Book Bundle. Before launching The Picture Book Club, YiLing worked as a writer, an editor, and a lawyer. She lives in NYC with her family and many, many books.
This Picture Book Life readers get $5 off any purchase at The Picture Book Club with the code, “Dd.” Hooray!
I’m super excited that YiLing Chen-Josephson from The Picture Book Club is here to share picture books about mail. It’s a fitting post because the subscription service is all about two wonderful things: books and mail!
Mr. Postmouse’s Rounds by Marianne Dubuc (2015).
A Letter for Leo by Sergio Ruzzier (2014).
Lovely titles to celebrate mail! One of our favorites was Toot & Puddle by Holly Hobbie. Postcard perfection!
Those two pigs are adorbs!
What a great list! Thank you! Another picture book I’d add is Ben Clanton’s IT CAME IN THE MAIL. Funny & charming.
Yes, I can’t wait to read that one! YiLing has a knack for classics or books that feel like classics.
I was going to suggest Ben Clanton’s book, too. It’s wonderful!
My daughter loves One Monster After Another by Mercer Mayer.
Sounds wonderful—I’ve just put a copy on hold at the library.