PPBF: Snail Mail

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday. 

Title: Snail Mail

Author: Samantha Berger

Illustrator: Julia Patton

Publisher: Running Press Books

Birthday: May 1, 2018

Suitable for: grades K - 3rd

Themes: letter writing, mindfulness, perseverance 

Brief synopsis: When Girl writes a note to Boy who lives across the country, four faithful snails offer to deliver it for her.

Opening page: A long, long time ago, but really not THAT long, before e-mail and texting, clicking and sending, mail was delivered in a much different way. A much slowwwwwwwwwer way. It was called Snail Mail.

Resources: Visit the author's page {here}.

Check out a Kirkus review {here}.

Why I like this book: From the author of Martha Doesn't Share and many other strong titles, Snail Mail seems on the surface to just be a silly snail tale. But take a deeper look as you journey with the snails on their priority-mail delivery expedition and you'll find lots of discussion points to ponder:

some poetry,

{Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor hail

could stop those snails from bringing the mail.} 

crazy weather patterns,

{Sometimes it poured. Sometimes it blizzarded.

Sometimes it got blazing hot. Sometimes it pelted ice.} 

geographical landmarks,

{Vegas, Jackson Hole, Yellowstone} 

and mindfulness suggestions

{... there was something special about slowing down ... } 

all embedded into this creative newcomer. 

I especially like the idea of slowwwwwwwing down, 

of looking around and noticing.

When we first got this van from New York five years ago, 

I was pretty sure I'd never seen a Honda van in that color.

Ever.

Pretty sure we didn't have them here in TX.

I was excited to have a one-of-a-kind.

Until the drive home.

That afternoon I saw at least five other vans

that very same color,

simply because I was noticing.

Use this story to encourage your learners to

slow down long enough to notice stuff.

Take them outside and play I Spy looking for certain colors.

How many blue things can they spot?

Then how many red?

How many green?

Noticing things will awaken their senses,

a nice segue into what they're smelling.

Consider the reference in the book to a letter

smelling like the person who sent it.

What do they notice that smells like someone?

Or something?

A memory maybe?

There's a certain smell that always takes me back

to northern Wisconsin

and makes me think of camping.

I love it when that scent wafts in the air.

I think it's some sort of a pine tree.

Let this treasure open up a rich discussion

on mindfulness.

Finally, use this mentor text as a springboard for,

you guessed it,

a letter-writing unit.

Find out first if they even know how much

postage for a first-class letter costs.

Teach them how to address an envelope.

Encourage them to write a note to a far-away friend

or a relative they've not heard from in awhile.

Or have them write to their parents or grandparents

who live close by, just for fun.

You could even find a class of kids in the same grade

and ask them to be Pen Pals

like we're planning to do with a group of

fifth-grade girls up in MA.

So many enrichment possibilities.

Check out this special delivery;

it's a whimsical parody that you won't want to miss.

Then visit Susanna Hill's blog for today's other PPBF picks.