Mailing May

Mailing May I love this book. I teach third grade and read it every year to my students. Iinclude it with a written response where the students get to choose a place to which they would be mailed.

Mailing May is the delightful tale of how a family living in 1914 ingeniously figures out an inexpensive way to send their little girl to her grandmother's house for a visit. May desperately wants to see her Grandma Mary, but unfortunately her family does not have enough money to buy her a train ticket. She attempts to find a job at Alexander's department store, and is crushed when he has no positions for young children. After returning home distressed and upset, May is woken up that night by her father, who has a special surprise. Her parents bring her to the Post Office and successfully convince the postmaster to mail her as a package. Stamped and addressed, May boards the train escorted by her cousin Leonard, who is in charge of the mail. After a long journey across the state, the mailman and his precious package reach the end of the tracks. Leonard delivers the package to Grandma Mary who is eagerly awaiting her arrival. May is able to visit her dear Grandma, but only with a little help from the US Post Office.

This is a wonderful story, a true story, and made me think of the many afternoons with my dad when I was tiny singing the Guthrie tune "I'm gonna Mail Myself to You". The drawings are superb, they seem like paintings rather than illustrations in a children's book. Sweet and lovely. Worth every penny.

I chose this book to read to a group of children, ages 2 to 11. They all sat, listening, interested, and loved it! The story is so nice and the drawings are perfect. I think a child doesn't have to "believe it" to believe in the passion behind it. They get it. It was great.

This is a touching story of a little girl who can't afford to visit her grandparents. It's set in the early 1900's. Children will learn a little history. They'll enjoy the family's solution to their problem. This is a lovely story. I'm afraid, however, that I enjoyed it a bit more than my children. From their 1990's perspective, the story was a little hard to believe.