The Jolly Postman

The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters

By Janet & Allan Ahlberg

Grade Level: Preschool-2

Genre: Fantasy/Traditional Literature

Do you love to receive mail? Have you ever sent a letter to anyone? I’m sure you know you’re not supposed to read other people’s mail, but it’s okay to do so in this book! If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite storybook characters talk about to each other, this is the book for you!

The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters by Janet and Allan Ahlberg is about a polite, tea-loving, postman who goes around delivering mail to classic fairytale characters. On each different page there is a little surprise contained in the envelopes addressed to each different fairytale character. Inside the envelopes are different types of mail. Goldilocks receives a birthday card with money, the three bears receive an apology letter from… guess who?! And, The Wicked Witch receives a flyer advertizing a number of witching necessities. Along his way, the postman enjoys a cup of tea (or other beverage) at just about every house he visits. He makes his way from house to house through out his day. His last stop is Goldilocks’ house at which he was invited to join her birthday party. After the party The Jolly Postman makes his way home to enjoy yet another cup of tea.

I really enjoy this book because it is a twist on a few classic traditional literature stories. Some of the characters included are, the Three Bears, Cinderella, and The Wolf (from Little Red Riding-Hood). You get to see a different side of the traditional fairy tale characters. You also get a taste of what happens post-happily-ever-after. I absolutely love how interactive it is, and there is an endless amount of activities that can be based off of this book. This book is definitely for a younger independent reading level, but it can be used as an instructional aide in letter writing activities, and projects based off of this books format. I would love to have my students create their own books that include letters between their favorite characters from any books that they have read. The book also has a nice rhyme scheme, and great illustrations. It is witty and comical, so you (the teacher) will probably enjoy it yourself. This is probably one of my favorite books of all time. I would say the genre is traditional literature meets fantasy because it takes fantastical characters that we all know from traditional literature (having the same traits that they do in their original stories), and puts them in the same neighborhood receiving mail from the Jolly Postman. The story does not include any conflict/resolution, or morals, but it does exemplify good manners. I think it is fantastical because the characters live like humans do in everyday life, which is quite unrealistic, as most fantasies are. I love this book and strongly recommend it to everyone.

Framework number 10, “Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the characteristics of different genres.” This book includes different genres of letters written by different characters. They can use these letters to analyze different genres within the book. Framework number 12, “Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.” Since this is a fictitious piece the students will be able to identify the elements of the story that make it fiction, such as the fact that there are talking animals, and a witch that lives in a gingerbread cottage.