The Jolly Postman - Janet & Allan Ahlberg New hardcover picture book

THE JOLLY POSTMAN

or Other People's Letters

by JANET and ALLAN AHLBERG

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New hardcover book 48 pages. Measures 20 x 27 cm.

A delightful postbag of real letters for you to open up and read

The Jolly Postman delivers cards and letters to various fairy-tale characters. He has a letter of apology for the three bears from Goldilocks, a mail-order catalogue for the Wicked Witch in the gingerbread cottage, a postcard from Jack for the giant, a solicitor's letter on behalf of Little Red Riding-Hood for the wolf who ate grandma, and more. There are six envelopes in the book, each containing letters, cards, etc.

The Jolly Postman follows a postman, known only as The Postman or The Jolly Postman as he delivers letters to various characters. All the recipients of the letters are characters drawn from popular fairy tales or children's stories, including Goldilocks, the gingerbread man and Cinderella. Throughout the story, after each page of narration, there is a page shaped like an envelope which contains a letter which the postman has delivered. These letters are intended to be taken out when the postman delivers the letter and add to the story. This concept follows similar lines to pop-up books in allowing the children, to whom the book is intended to be read, to be included in the reading of the book and interact with it

About the authors

Janet and Allan Ahlberg are the English husband and wife team who created many popular children's books, which regularly appear at the top of the 'most popular' lists for public libraries. They worked together for 20 years until Janet died of cancer in 1994. Allan wrote the books, and Janet illustrated them. Allan was born in Croydon, in 1938. He was brought up in Oldbury in the Black Country. He is a supporter of West Bromwich Albion F.C. Janet (née Hall) was born in 1944 and brought up in Leicester. They married in 1969.

Their first three published books, in quick succession, were The Old Joke Book, The Vanishment of Thomas Tull and the popular Burglar Bill. In 1978, Janet won the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustrating Each Peach Pear Plum. One of their most popular books, The Jolly Postman, has sold over 6 million copies. Along with the sequels, The Jolly Pocket Postman and The Jolly Christmas Postman, it made innovative use of envelopes to include letters, cards, games and a tiny book. It took 5 years to make, but after much discussion with the printers and publishers, The Jolly Postman was published in 1986. It won many awards, including the Kate Greenaway Medal again, and the Kurt Maschler Award.

They worked together and produced many popular books for a range of ages. Some, such as Peepo! and The Baby's Catalogue are aimed at babies and toddlers. For older children, they wrote books such as Burglar Bill, Cops and Robbers, Funnybones and the Happy Families series. Allan also wrote two books of verses, Heard it in the Playground and Please, Mrs Butler, which Janet illustrated, and more text-heavy books including Woof!.

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The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters by Janet and Allan Ahlberg