Gosh it feels like it has been forever since I last posted a Pen to Paper! It has been a whirlwind with the RI Author Event and then Children's Book Week last week. I am happy to get back to regular scheduled posting. Anyway, way back in March when I last had a Pen to Paper post, I had been sharing some great books to inspire you to get started pen paling or even writing to family and friends. So I thought today that I would share a few more books with you, only this time they are geared towards young kids. It is never too early to start letter writing.
Munchkin already enjoys sending and receiving mail. He sees me writing to pen pals and wants to send some mail too. He has his own special paper and he sends letters to family (granted he can only really write his name so I add my own translation in with the letters he sends).
I also remember getting pen pal both in school and girl scouts as a kid. What better way to inspire written word, even proper spelling and grammar than with letters. It also teaches about the postal system and can be informative about other cultures and with Munchkin he is learning geography.
I can't tell you how many times I have encountered people, adults even, who don't even know how to address an envelope or even where to put the stamp if there isn't a little box indicating where it should go. Not to mention the complete inability to write complete sentences and letters. So I encourage writing letters as a young child, they will grow in passion and ability!
So anyway end of that rant, I have a few books to inspire letter writing in young children. Some of these Munchkin and I have read together, some are still waiting on our shelf to be read.
All of the Jolly Postman books are fantastic for starting a little mail lover. They include classic fairytale characters who send and receive mail. On each page you actually get the piece of mail, it maybe a sales flyer, a letter, an invitation, or postcard. They are a lot of fun for young children to explore.
This is a companion book to the Jolly Postman story. It is more of a workbook to expand on a young readers curiosity. It explains more about letters and how they should be written and addressed. There are plenty of examples and blank pages for kids to practice writing their own letters on (and even to develop a unique postage stamp).
This is a cute story about a stuffed rabbit who gets lost at an airport. He ends up traveling the world and sending letters home from each new destination. This is another fun one that is interactive, the kids get to open each envelope to see what Felix has sent home, each one has a short letter and sometimes a picture or postcard to go with it. On the last page Felix comes home with all kinds of goodies from all over the world (I don't know what is included because ours was a used copy and was missing the things from the last page). There are also several cute Felix inspired toys you can find out there.
This is a simple early reader book about a little alligator who writes to Grandma all by himself. Who better to encourage a budding letter writer than Grandma (I am pretty sure they will always cherish those letters and respond).
This is one that is on our shelf waiting to be read, but it is an early reader about a penguin named Tony. He gets a pen pal through his class at school. He later gets to meet his pen pal (at least that is my understanding).
So there are a few books for those very young kids who might want to start writing letters. I will have more books in the future for other reading audiences that will inspire letter writing too!
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