The Jolly Postman series by Allan Ahlberg

 

I felt moved to re-read my set of Jolly Postman books after hearing that Allan Ahlberg died on the 28th July - just last week. Imagine my surprise when I opened the original book - The Jolly Postman - only to discover it was signed by Allan himself!  I have absolutely no idea how or where this happened - but yay!

The Jolly Postman delivers letters and cards to the inhabitants of fairy land – and drinks a lot of cups of tea. The book includes six letters in envelopes to pull out and read and on every page are lots of little details to spot.

Allan had briefly worked as a postman but the idea for the book actually came from noticing how much his two-year-old daughter liked playing with the post. She loved to take letters out of envelopes and put them back in again. The Ahlbergs were determined that the envelopes and letters would be part of the book. We may take it for granted now that books can be interactive and playful but it took five years to make The Jolly Postman, partly because the Ahlbergs were insistent that all the details would work perfectly.

The Jolly Postman (1986)

"A Jolly Postman delivers letters to several famous fairy-tale characters such as the Big Bad Wolf, Cinderella, and the Three Bears. Twelve of the pages have been made into six envelopes and contain eight letters and cards. Each letter may be removed from its envelope page and read separately."

The Jolly Christmas Postman (1991)

"A Jolly Postman delivers Christmas cards to several famous fairy-tale characters such as the Big Bad Wolf, Cinderella, and the Three Bears. Each card may be removed from its envelope page and read separately. With 6 letters in pockets".

The Jolly Pocket Postman (1995)

"Join the jolly postman with his mailbag of delightful deliveries for Dorothy from Oz, Alice from Wonderland, and other favorite storybook characters."

These books are a perfect demonstration of the importance of familiarity with nursery rhymes and fairy tales and later classic stories like The Wizard of Oz.  I can see someone developing a thesis around all the myriad of references found in the text and in the tiny corners of the illustrations in each of these books. Look at this picture above - can you spy Rapunzel; Dick Wittington; Jack and the Beanstalk; the little crooked man; and others I cannot identify - can you?

On each page, there are different letters to read and each offers a fun insight into classic fairy tale characters. The letters also offer a chance of the reader to predict. “What will this letter to the Giant say? Who could it possibly be from?” This story is perfect for a bedtime or story-time reading with parent and child.  The story is a clever rhyming narrative of the Jolly Postman’s travels through fairytale land delivering letters to various fairytale creatures. ...  The letters are also written in a variety of styles: some are formal, such as the letter from the law office; others are informal, and misspelled, like the letter from Goldilocks. Each voice heard in the letters is distinct and unique.

One aspect of the three books that always fascinated and delighted me were the stamps and of course the creative addresses on each envelope.

Image adapted from Kathy apRoberts

Pick up your copies of the books and look for these stamps: Old King Cole; the Loch Ness Monster; Cinderella with her Prince and the glass coach; the Queen of Hearts; the Lion and the Unicorn; Georgie Porgie kissing the girl; the house in the tornado from the Wizard of Oz and even a postage paid stamp from "The Sunny side of the Street".

I also have some favourites among the inclusions inside the envelopes:

The Jolly Postman - Hobgoblin Supplies Ltd advertising page; the official publisher letter from Peter Piper Press and the mini book of Cinderella; and the formal legal letter to Mr Wolf from Meeny, Miny, Mo, & Co Attorneys at Law - here is an extract

"Please understand if this harassment does not cease, we will call in the Official Woodcutter, and - if necessary - all the King's horse and all the King's men."

The Jolly Christmas Postman - my favourite thing is the peep hole or concertina book in the final envelope. I mentioned this very recently. And of course the little jigsaw of Humpty Dumpty is such a terrific surprise.

From The Kids' Book Explorer

On a rainy day you could have hours of fun with these three books - reading all the inclusions and then playing all the games. You might also like to write some letters or postcards and actually post them - not just send an email - to a family member or friend. 

The Humpty Dumpty jigsaw puzzle, the Christmas card to Baby Bear from Goldilocks, 

the fold-out board game to Little Miss Riding Hood from a certain Mr Wolf, and

the Toytown Christmas Annual booklet

Now go back and look at other tiny details. For example look for the tiny old fashioned domestic items such as a vacuum cleaner; telephone; mantle clock; grandfather clock; a radio; the witch eating horrid jam; Cinderella has all her newly opened wedding presents beside her; and on the wall of the bedroom behind the wolf who is disguised as Grandma you will see a painting of Red Riding Hood herself. The postman reading his newspaper - Mirror Mirror; in hospital (in the Jolly Pocket Postman) a cat is visiting with a soccer ball and on the next page we see him scoring a goal - Allan Ahlberg loved soccer (football). Did you notice the Gingerbread Boy lives in a house made from a biscuit tin? There is a moving van called the 3 Little Pigs Ltd. There is just so much to discover and to TALK about in these glorious books. I do hope you can find all three to share with your child. 

Don't you love getting mail? Letters are so fun to open up and read, and here is this book, 

The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters, full of letters to people like the Three Bears, and Goldilocks, and the Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk. Cool, huh? I wonder who is writing to them? What kind of letters to fairy tale characters get, anyway? Hmmm. The only way to find out is to ask your parents for a trip to the library or bookstore to find this book. Then find a squishy, comfy chair, and get reading (or, have someone read it to you). Bugs and Bunnies

Image Source The Postal Museum on Facebook

Image source: The Federation of Children's Book Groups Facebook post

The Fairy Tale Fan Club by Richard Ayoade illustrated by David Roberts

 

Fairy tales tell of adventure, adversity, courage, and love. But once the tale is told, all we know of our heroes and heroines is that they lived Happily Ever After. But surely there must be more to it than that? Ever After is a long time to be Merely Happy. What are our heroes and heroines doing now? How do they feel about the fantastic events that they encountered? What lessons have they learned? And if they could go back in time, would they do the same things again? Does life seem boring now in comparison, or are they relieved they no longer have to keep their eyes peeled for poisonous apples, fearsome dragons, uncomfortable peas, etc.? For the past few years, the curious among you have been asking these questions and sending them to me, C.C. Cecily, the Senior Secretary of the Fairy Tale Fan Club. I then pass on these communications to the Fairy Folk concerned and await their replies, which I then forward back to the relevant parties. If necessary, I add my own comments and clarifications. - from the introduction by C.C Cecily.

The fairy tales featured in this book are: Little Red Riding Hood; The Emperor's New Clothes; The Princess and the Pea; The Frog Prince; Rapunzel; Rumpelstiltskin; The Little Mermaid; Cinderella; Hansel and Gretel; Jack the Beanstalk; and The elves and the Shoemaker. And there are stories/letters to characters that are not from fairy tales -  Humpty Dumpty (it's a nursery rhyme) and Pinocchio.

Older readers who dip into The Fairy Tale Fan club will probably need to revisit some of the fairy tales especially The Little Mermaid. And they may find some of the vocabulary quite challenging: esteem, solemnizes, sham, gist, propulsive, prowess, and perplexed.

Why did I buy this book? Well, it was bound to happen sometime - I accidentally bought a 'celebrity' book! In fairness to myself this guy is a UK celebrity (not Australian) and there is no indication of his celeb status in the bio notes at the back of this book. Also, in fairness to myself, this book has had some very positive reviews which is how it came to my attention. 

Actor/comedian Ayoade presents a tongue-in-cheek collection of purported letters to and from well-known fairy-tale characters from Western tradition. ... Happily ever after, mortal reader!  Kirkus Star review

At the heart of The Fairy Tale Fan Club is a delightful exploration of friendship and community. As the characters come together to celebrate their love for fairy tales, the story highlights the importance of finding your tribe and sharing passions with others. It’s a heart-warming reminder that connection and collaboration can lead to the most magical adventures! Better Reading

And finally, I do like illustrations by David Roberts such as The Dunderheads and this series by Andrea Beaty.  Oh, and this book was a little cheaper at Gleebooks who generously offered participants at a recent event a 20% discount. 

You will notice I have not given this book any stars. I found it hugely disappointing. I love the idea of what happened after the 'they all lived happily ever after' ending of all classic fairy tales and I also love books that are fractured fairy tales or that innovate on well-known fairy tale stories. Here is my Pinterest. But this book feels as though it is trying too hard and somehow it just didn't work for me.  All this means I won't add this book to my own bookshelves instead I will add it to my book gift box of titles I am taking to a local teacher-librarian network meeting. 

I heartily agree with the comments from this Good Reads reviewer: My main struggle with this book was that I found the intended audience really confusing. The letters are witty - dry wit, oftentimes - as you’d expect from an accomplished comedian like this and much better suited to adult readers (still accessible to a more mature older child perhaps). However, there are also parts which reference a parent might be reading this book to their child, i.e. a much younger child, and the illustrations are certainly geared towards a younger reader too. Equally the very short length and large illustrative component is suggestive of younger readers, so I’m a bit lost as to who this book might be best intended for. 

I had a long discussion recently with a colleague in the Book Bunker library at Westmead children's hospital about celebrity books and about the way so many of them seem to have to mention farts or farting. I think we found over twenty in our small library collection. AND so yes, I am sad to report that The Fairy Tale Fan Club meets these criteria too. At times the humour in this book feels too adult to be included in a children's book. You can read a text extract here. Read this review from Red Reading Hub which begins This is essentially a satirical collection of letters supposedly written to or from well-known fairy tale characters, each with an introduction by the supposed narrator—C.C. Cecily, the Senior Secretary of the Fairy Tale Fan Club. That word SATIRICAL feels like an adult label to me. 

There are two covers above. I prefer the top one but copies of this book here in Australia have the second cover. 

Other (better) fairy tale continuation stories for younger readers:

Who is Richard Ayoade. His photo might seem familiar. You can hear him (and others) reading an audio sample of his book here:

I was a Rat or the Scarlet Slippers by Philip Pullman

I was a Rat or the Scarlet Slippers is a classic book. I was sure I had talked about it previously here. It is a book I regularly recommended as a class read aloud for Grade 4 or 5. 

Publisher blurb: Standing in the moonlight was a little boy in a page's uniform . . . 'Bless my soul'! said Bob. 'Who are you?' When a small boy turns up on the doorstep of old Bob the cobbler and Joan the washerwoman, all he can tell them is 'I was a rat!'. But who is he really, and where has he come from? A wonderful, funny, surprising and sharply-observed re-telling of Cinderella.

I first read this book back when it was published in 1999. I am happy to report it is still in print and in paperback and available for a reasonable price too. Oddly there was so much of the plot I had forgotten. Some of the scenes are actually quite confronting.

Here are a few text quotes to give you an idea of this book:

"Standing in the moonlight was a little boy in a page's uniform. It had once been smart, but it was sorely torn and stained, and the boy's face was scratched and grubby."

"Joan came to the table with a bowl of warm bread and milk. She put it in front of the boy and without a second's pause he put his face right down into the bowl and began to guzzle it up directly, his dirty little hands gripping the edge of the table."

"The poor little boy was an orphan, and grief had turned his mind, and he'd wandered away from the orphanage he must have been living in."

"As soon as he saw the pencils, he fell in love with them. His whole heart longed for them. So while the lady and Bob and Joan leant across the desk talking, Roger's hand crept off his lap and slowly, carefully, over to the jar. ... (eventually) they all turned to Roger. He looked up, pleased to be noticed, but a little guilty too. The stump of the pencil was just sticking out of his mouth, and he quickly sucked it inside and pressed his lips together; but the lead had marked his mouth, and there were little flecks of red paint all round it too."

Bob and Joan take the little boy, now named Roger, to the council, to the orphanage, to the police, and to the hospital but no one seems able to help and no one has reported a missing boy. The hospital advise sending the little boy to school but that is a disaster. Roger has no pencil so the teacher makes him stand in the corner. Then when she threatens to strike him he bites her hand. Roger is taken to the headmaster.

"No one had ever heard a scream like that. When a boy went to be caned, he tried as hard as he could to make no noise at all, and some of the toughest ones managed to stop themselves from even whimpering ... But not even the most babyish victim would have screamed as long and as wildly as Roger was screaming."

Roger is so frightened he runs away. Luckily the police catch him after he knocks into a stall at the market, and he is taken back to Bob and Joan. Rumours about this strange boy begin to circulate and he comes to the attention of the Philosopher Royal. He tells Bob and Joan Jones that he will take the boy to the palace so he can study him further. This pompous man bamboozles the cobbler and his wife so they agree to let Roger go just for the day with the promise he will return in the evening but once again Roger is terrified this time by a cat and so he escapes back into the city. 

At this point the story becomes quite sinister. Roger is taken by a man who displays curiosities. Usually his exhibits are fakes but Roger keeps insisting he was a rat and so the man named Mr Tapscrew sets up a horrible cage and puts Roger into a dirty rat costume and then puts him on display. 

"We still need a bit more filth and squalor. It looks almost respectable in there. We need mud and rotten vegetables. We need dung, really, but there's a limit to what the public will stand, more's the pity ... We'll have a feeding time, every hour on the hour."

(Language warning) "Oh, shut up, you sanctimonious little mumper! Just remember - snarl and snatch and threaten. Else I'll pull your bloody nose off. Now the next lot of punters'll be in any minute, and I want 'em horrified and disgusted. ... He kicked Roger for good measure, and went out."

Then Roger comes to the attention of a thief rather like Fagan from Oliver Twist. He takes Roger away from the fair and puts him to work with his gang of house thieves. Of course all of this is very confusing for Roger and things go badly wrong with the burglary when Roger is left in the kitchen with all of the food - dried spaghetti, figs, cream crackers, dried beans, and lastly some chillies. The water has been turned off and Roger's throat is on fire so he plunges his head into a large barrel. It is water but when the water meets dried food it is another disaster.

"Something strange was happening inside him. He staggered slightly on the ground and listened to his stomach. All kinds of bubblings and gurglings and swooshings and bubblings were taking place, as the cascade of water met the dried beans and the rice and sloshed about among the bits of spaghetti."

The police arrive to catch the thieves, Roger bites the police man and fees again. This time into the sewers underneath the market place. Then the really serious and dangerous rumours begin about a dangerous rat boy - half human half rat. A reward is offered for his capture and Roger find himself in jail - naked and afraid. 

How can this story have a happy ending? Why does Roger keep saying 'I was a rat?'  There are clues along the way in the form of newspaper articles about a ball and a girl and a prince and slippers and midnight - perhaps you can put this puzzle together.

You migth like to look for the audio book of I was a Rat read by the terrific actor Robert Glenister. This book was first published in 1999 but it is still available in paperback for a good price. Philip Pullman is a famous UK Author - read more on his web site.

Red and the City by Marie Voigt

Red sets off with her dog Woody to take a cake to grandmother. Her mother tells Red to 

"Follow the heart flowers; take care with crossing the road; stay on the path; and don't talk to strangers."

If you know the original story of Little Red Riding Hood you will anticipate that things will go wrong but this is a modern retelling with mobile phones and a city to cross not a forest but of course the big bad wolf is hovering over every scene.

As with all good fairy tales there is a happy ending but it is very different from the one you will remember from the traditional tale.

This would be a fabulous book to share with a group of older children because you could discuss consumerism. If you collect fractured fairy tales this book is a must add to your collection. The graphic black and white illustrations with spots of red are very appealing. This debut picture book was first published in 2018 and was short listed for the Klaus Flugge Prize in 2019. Here is the web site for Marie Voigt.

The colour palette of greys, black and white is so dystopian and the effect is stunning. It isn’t scary, but like a fairy-tale, there is a hint of darkness at the edges. Little Red, in her bright coat, is in danger of being lost to the enormity of the city.  Book Murmuration

Wolfred by Nick Bland

 

This book puzzles me. A friend told me this week the Teacher-Librarian at her grandson's school offered this book as something truly special to young students in Grade One. Her grandson "won" this book and he was thrilled but really is this book for children as young as six? I know books should extend the reader's experiences but I am not sure many children would have encountered a bell boy in the lift of a very fancy hotel - do such things still exist?

Reading Time ended their review with the words: Recommended for lower primary ages.

Wolfred is given a job as a lift attendant. He is not allowed to speak or interact with the celebrity guests. His only outlet comes from writing stories each day about his observations. He posts these, via paper planes, to people in a nearby apartment building. Is this a reference to tabloid news or gossip columns? Eventually the boss, who is a real pig, discovers the stories and Wolfred is fired. On the same night the boss is pignapped and it is Wolfred who saves the day because he recognises the thieves are wearing a disguise. They are crocodiles dressed as sheep!

Wolfred is one of those books with lots of references to other books (Intertextuality). To understand the references in this book readers need to know about:

The trope of wolves in literature

How are wolves portrayed in stories? Wolves in folktales like Little Red Riding Hood, Peter and the Wolf, and The Boy Who Cried Wolf are portrayed as cruel and cunning. Phrases like “a wolf in sheep's clothing,” “throw them to the wolves,” and “cry wolf” all paint a picture of wolves as malicious creatures.

King Kong

Wolf in sheep's clothing (in this case though the baddies are crocodiles) - a reference to Red Riding Hood - their teeth and their tails were too long. And of course WolfRed - he is wearing a red suit

Little Bo Peep

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Readers also need to understand puns such as "Fancy Pants Tower"; "the boss was a pig"; and "never say boo to a ghost". The title is a play on words too.

There are visual jokes too - the lion is wearing an ermine cloak and a crown; the Fancy Pants Tower has a neon light shaped like fancy pants - is this a reference to the Trump Tower? The tortoises have lightning blot images on their caps (a reference to the hare and the tortoise by Aesop); the lift goes as high as the moon (bear in an astronaut suit) and down under the ocean.  There is an image which references Chinese New Year and the hint that a dragon set a tree outside the lift on fire. 

There is an tone to this story about the rich and poor divide and about privilege and the class system in society. You also need to notice all the pot plants that Wolfred has been cultivating. Here are some STEM ideas based on Wolfred. I recently talked about another book by Nick Bland - Walk of the Whales.

Nick Bland has another book about abuse of power and reforming of a character:

King Pig

If you use Wolfred with a group of older students - Grade 4 and up you could then look at this book:

If you want to look at another book set in a lift try to find this one which would be a better choice for a Grade One or Kindergarten reader:

We're Stuck

Jeremiah in the Dark Woods by Allan Ahlberg illustrated by Janet Ahlberg

"Once upon a time there were three bears, seven dwarfs, five gorillas, a frog prince, some sleeping beauties, a wolf, a dinosaur, a Mad Hatter, a steamboat, four firemen on a fire-engine, a crocodile with a clock in it, a considerable number of giant beanstalks - and a little boy named Jeremiah Odadiah Jackenory Jones." Listen here

When I share this book with a class as I read this I ask the students to count on their fingers the number of stories or fairy tales they can identify and then we go back and list the stories, laugh about the gorillas and enjoy the fun of repeating Jeremiah's whole name.

Now back to the story... Grandma has made some jam tarts. Delicious jam tarts. The crocodile asks "would these be jam tarts? ... (and) by any chance would this jam be strawberry jam all dark and delicious from the baking ... And is it possible that the pastry of these tarts is a golden brown with glorious little crisp and curly edges?"

Grandma leaves the tarts on the window sill to cool because she plans to ask Jeremiah to them to his auntie who lives beyond the Dark Woods, across the river, over the hills and a great way off. But before she can pack the tarts into a basket for Jeremiah to carry they make the dreadful discovery that the tarts have been stolen. 

Jeremiah is a brave boy so he puts on his boots and sets off to find the 'no good thief who has stolen his aunties tarts.'  Along the way he meets all of those characters we read about in the first sentence. Each character has a very distinct voice. I adore reading the section with the crocodile for example.

Once upon a time when we read this book I would buy those little jam tart biscuits and share them with the children at the end of the story which usually took us two or three library sessions to complete. Astute readers will identify the thief long before we reach the end but for the majority of Grade One and Two children this always comes as a surprise and luckily (spoiler alert) Grandma does make another batch of tarts when Jeremiah finally arrives back home.

I mentioned this book earlier this week and I saw that I blogged about it ten years ago so I re-read this delicious book today.

Geraldine McCaughread said:  "I think (this book) ... is literally 'perfect' - not a word wrong, not a comma out of place."

Jeremiah in the Dark Woods is one of my ALL TIME most favourite books to read aloud to Grade 1 or Grade 2 students in my school library. This book was first published in 1977 but I thrilled to see it is still in print. The new paperback is a slightly smaller size.

A few discussion questions:

The five gorillas have an alibi. What does this mean?

This wolf had on a pair of overalls and was doing repairs to a motor-cycle which was upside down on the ground, surrounded by tools and bit of machinery. do you believe him when he says he is not guilty? Why or why not?

What do we know about the character of the crocodile from this sentence: The crocodile was cleaning its teeth with a toothbrush and smiling at itself from time to time in a small silver mirror.

The Little Match Girl Strikes Back by Emma Carroll illustrated by Lauren Child

 

Bridie Sweeney wants to tell you a better story, a more truthful story, a less tragic story about the real little match girl. The year is 1887 (the year my own Grandmother Amy Elizabeth was born).

The old story was "so sweet and sad, people would snivel into their hankies upon reading it, and it soon because famous the world over. It made the man who wrote it very rich indeed, though I don't suppose he'd ever met a real match girl in his life. If he had he'd have know we weren't all pretty things with fair curls and tiny, freezing hands, and that most of us were fed up with being hungry all the time."

Bridie lives with her mother, who works at the match factory, and her younger brother Fergal. They live in a tiny room and just scrape by with small wages from the factory and the few coins Bridie makes selling matches in London's East End. 

Conditions in the factory are dreadful. Mam, and the other women who work there, are subject to the poison of the phosphorus from the matches (phossy jaw). There is no ventilation in their work space and they cannot wash their hands before eating. 

"I couldn't imagine how bad it was inside the factory building. Mam was a dipper, dunking the matchsticks in phosphorus, which meant she - and many others like her - stood bent over the stuff all day long without so much as an open window for air."

The factory is based on the real one The Bryant and May factory. Here are their match boxes:

Image source: National Archives UK

Bridie sets out to sell her matches and on this day things go well at first. She sells all of her boxes and is able to pick up another set from the factory. But this is when things go badly wrong. She is nearly killed when a carriage containing the factory boss hits her. All of her matches are spilled, her tray is smashed and the too big slippers, which belong to her mam, are lost. Bridie has only three damaged matches left. She strikes each of them in turn, and, as in the original tale, she enters a series of visions. She experiences the excesses of the rich factory boss and his family at their dining table. Then she meets a activist who wants to support the factory workers and demand change. Finally she is given a glimpse of her final wish - "I wish to see my family living a better life".

This is historical fiction at its best. At the back of the book there are notes which explain the context of factory workers, match production, the role of the activist Annie Besant (1847-1933) who published letters in newspapers all over England which led people to support the striking factory workers. It all takes a long time but by 1908 the use of white phosphorus is banned. 

The production of this book is scrumptious!  Yes I am using the word scrumptious.  This hardcover book costs under AUS$20 and it has a dust jacket (you know I adore them) and a different image under the jacket (another aspect of book design that I really appreciate). The illustrations by Lauren Child are perfect too. If you have a young reading companion aged 10+ I highly recommend this book. It would be a perfect Christmas present.

It’s a thrilling tale and Bridie is a wonderful character brought stunningly to life in Lauren Child’s magnificently beautiful illustrations, many of them based on real photographs of match sellers and workers from the time. The innovative layout of the text makes this a particularly vibrant read. Emma Carroll and Lauren Child are a brilliant pairing and this book would make a wonderful gift. Book Trust

Further reading

Kids Britannica "Match girls' strike"

English Heritage 

Historic UK

Spartacus Educational

I would follow this book with these:

Counting on Grace

Bread and Roses Too

Of course you will also want to revisit the original story. Some very talented people have illustrated versions of this famous Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale - Jerry Pinkney; Rachel Isadora; Kveta Pacovska; Kestutis Kasparavicius and Hye-Won Yang.

I have previously talked about several books by Emma Carroll:

Letters from the Lighthouse

Sky Chasers

The Week at World's End

In Darkling Wood

The Ghost Garden

Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds The Tunnel by Anthony Browne

"At the other end she found herself in a quiet wood. There was no sign of her brother. But the wood soon turned into a dark forest. She thought about wolves and giants and witches."

Rose and Jack are very different. Jack plays sport with this friends while Rose is a book reader. Jack sees the world in "black and white". Rose uses her imagination. This is lucky because when Jack enters a long tunnel and doesn't come back Rose goes into the tunnel and she discovers a strange world. When Rose sees her brother has been turned to stone her knowledge of fairy tales that tells her what to do.

I love all the small details in this book. The end papers show a brick wall (the rigid unimaginative thinking of Jack) and a fanciful patter (the creative and imaginative thinking of Rose). Looking closely at Rose's bedroom you will see a gingerbread house light, a print of Red Riding Hood in the style of Arthur Rackham, pretty wall paper (referencing another Anthony Browne book - Knock Knock who's there) and her coat which looks just like the one worn by Red Riding Hood. And Jack is wearing a wolf mask.

Thinking about the CBCA 2021 slogan Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds I have talked previously about the idea of portals to another world. Yesterday I talked about The Mirrorstone which is a old book now out of print but luckily even though The Tunnel is also an older book (1989) it is still available. The Mirrorstone is for an older group of students in Grades 3-6 but my focus book today, The Tunnel, can be read across a wide range of ages. Here are a set of teaching ideas. 

The girl’s fear of losing her brother overwhelms her fear of entering a tunnel, which she correctly deduces may take them to a parallel world where physics works in unexpected ways. Anthony Browne makes sure to show the reader an open page of her book. This story therefore has the double function of promoting literature — if you read, you’ll be well-equipped to handle whatever life throws at you. Slap Harry Larry

When I thought about linking The Tunnel with the 2021 CBCA slogan I also thought of another Anthony Browne book where the character goes into another world. If you can find Through the Mirror it would also be a good one to share as a part of your Book Week discussions.