Not an orc in sight round here! (Jolly Postman or Other Peoples Letters - Allen Ahlberg)

Member Name: Nolly

Product:	Jolly Postman or Other Peoples Letters - Allen Ahlberg
Date:	01/02/03 (313 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: beautiful writing, beautiful pictures

Disadvantages: look after the inserts

I like to laugh, indeed I guffaw so loudly that my whole body starts to shake and I have developed a propensity to knock over people's drinks. You may be asking yourself what on earth I am doing starting off an opinion like that, so let me explain....

Cast your minds back to a few months ago, when the Royal Mail, or Consignia, or the Muppets or whatever they call themselves now decided to announce trialling a charge for customers who wanted their post delivered before 9am. Well, I laughed, and laughed, and laughed. You see, here in the village of Much Legover in The Bushes, set in the wilds of the forgotten Lands of the 21st Century equivalent of Middle Earth (Lincolnshire), our post is deliverd by a cheery postman who covers several villages before ours, and the post is never delivered before 2pm!

So let us now look at a book which deals with a postman. Don't worry there isn't a black and white cat in sight (if there were I'd stew it)- but there is a lot of happiness.


The Authors
===========

Janet and Allan Ahlberg are very well-known among one sector of the population- book buying parents! Their stories are original, often feature rhyme and fairy tale characters, and are just so simply, how can I put it, non-technology-ised. We started off by buying Ellie 'Each Peach Pear Plum', and then 'Peepo!'. Last Christmas, however, as she is nearly 3 years old, weinvested the not inconsiderable sum of £11.99 to buy a copy of 'The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters' (Puffin Books ISBN 0670886246). I think that Janet Ahlberg is sadly no longer with us, which is a crying shame, but I know that Allan is carrying on with the splendid work!

The Book
=========

So what is the format of the book, I hear you ask. Well, let me quote the first page:


"Once upon a bicycle
So they say.
A Jolly Postman came one day
From over the hills
And fa
r away...

With a letter for the Three Bears."

The Postman goes round and delivers his letters to various fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters.

The really, and I mean REALLY special thing about the book is that on every double page is the envelope that the postman delivers, and in that envelope is the letter for us to take out and read! There's a letter for the Three Bears from Goldilocks apologising for breaking and entering and inviting Baby Bear to her birthday party, a circular for the Wicked Witch about mail order witchcraft suppiles, and a sample storybook from a firm of publishers to Cinderella, asking for permission to publish her story. It's all just so great. I won't mention the others so as not to spoil all your enjoyment!


My Verdict
==========

It is, as with all Ahlberg books, just so wonderful and very special. from the moment you open the first letter you will be absolutely enchanted, I guarantee it.

The book would be more suitable for older toddlers / pre-schoolers in my view, simply because you may not want younger tots to eat, vomit on, destroy or lose the lovely letters. Being a father of two little girls, I will tell you now that there are other ways that children can destroy bits of a book, but you may be eating!

£11.99 may be a little steep for a children's book, I hear you say. Fair point, but I think it is worth every penny- and you may be able to get it at a reduced price through WH Smith.co.uk, Amazon or BOL.com.

There are two other books that are similar, 'The Jolly Christmas Postman' and 'The Jolly Pocket Postman'. This is the original and the best I feel.

Just watch out, if you read it before your children, you may not want them to have it- you will be that enchanted!

Happy Reading

Neil

2003

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