A few days ago I was chatting with our youth services library assistant. In the ebb and flow of discussing books, one of my favorite picture books came to mind. It's been a while since we checked this one out of the library, so I've put it on hold.
Mailing May is delightfully illustrated by Ted Rand, with Michael O. Tunnell telling the story. May has to travel to visit her grandmother, but they have no money for the train. Since the title hints at the resolution to this problem, I won't spoil the story by telling you how they resolve it. This historical fiction picture book will definitely get your younger ones wondering, "What if..." And in case you were considering it for one of those summer days when your kids have said, "I'm bored" one too many times, it is illegal to mail your children. You can read more true stories of children being mailed on the Smithsonian's postal blog post "Very Special Deliveries"
While thinking about this post, I remembered two other postal stories that we've read. The second one is similar to Mailing May in that your children will catch a glimpse of days long past. The House in the Mail tells the story of one family who ordered their house from the Sears Catalog. Really? And we thought it was only Amazon that sold everything under the sun. As I drive through older parts of town, I wonder how many of those houses were shipped in and assembled by the new owners. You really could get just about anything from Sears.
The last postal story I have for you was discovered while researching Michigan history and fun facts for my current project. Michigan has the country's only floating zip code. I first heard about this on the NPR show "Stateside " So of course, once I heard, I had to see if there was a book about that. Sure enough, someone has written a story, Mail by the Pail. While it isn't the greatest told tale, and the illustrations are not on par with the first two books I've mentioned, it is written by someone with connections to the shipping and mail industry. Most importantly, it is a Michigan tale, something fun for those of us who live in the Mitten.
