LOST PACKAGE: Let's Not Lose the Postal Service

Before I launch into my full-throated praise of our United States Postal Service (USPS), let me assure you that I have no relatives who work for that organization. My admiration and reliance on this public service as been lifelong and loyal, with my enthusiastic support rising year after year. That magnified as I learned about the postal services in other countries, as I've lived my entire adult life far from people I love.  Our USPS has allowed me to send and receive letters and packages to those people safely, reliably, and reasonably priced for as many years as I have been alive. Digital access is valuable, but nothing replaces actual mail.

Have I ever felt the stress of a lost package? Yes. Once, in particular, a handmade quilt-wedding gift seemed to be "lost in the mail" for a worrying length of time. This was before tracking, but it turned up in time, safe and sound. That was a great example of the fact that no amount of package insurance (which I had purchased) could have compensated for its loss. The same would ahve been true in the following...

Roaring Book Press, 2021

Which leads me to the heart of a picture book written by Richard Ho and illustrated by Jessica Lanan,  THE LOST PACKAGE. As I heard about this book and then read it, I appreciated the story, the characters, and the rarely-explored treatment of my beloved USPS. 

I'll admit that I also felt a twinge of caution. The idea that a package could be lost, abandoned, potentially never reach its destination felt a bit like kicking USPS while its down, while it is struggling under hostile leadership and financial woes not of its own making. (Learn more HERE.)

Then I read the author's (and illustrator's) notes. Ho's father was a dedicated USPS employee for over thirty years, providing his immigrant family a way into the American middle class while delivering security and love for them while providing  a service we could all "take for granted". 

I'll return to that thought after sharing the beauty and joy of this picture book.

What I loved about this, even before reading the mitigating notes at the back, is that a single package carries its own story. It may not seem the way, as online ordering has become so ubiquitous and automatic that doorstep delivery can feel impersonal, automatic. 

I advocate that every single day, and most especially in Covid times, we should reflect a bit more often on the remarkable process that takes place outside of our awareness. This story allows the package itself to feel like a character, beginning as an empty box, filled lovingly with a meaningful object and message. It  then moves through an elaborate and efficient system to reach its intended doorstep. The actual processing of mailed letters and packages is portrayed with details (and my admiration) through illustrations, and received a stamp of approval for accuracy from Ho's father. 

But, bad things sometimes happen to mail. Statistically speaking, that is a vanishingly small percentage of processed mail, but it does happen. In this case, a pothole causes the tragic ejection of a package from its mail truck, and it happens to be the very package that readers are "tracking".  It comes to rest in a gutter, ignored by many, until a young boy and his dog insist on taking a closer look. That's when my hopes were raised that they would return it to their local post office and the heroes would be employees who deciphered the ruined address, finally, heroically, delivering our battered little package. 

That would have  fit my glowing view of USPS, and is actually what happens, often. I suspect we've all occasionally received a damaged letter or package. We may be aggravated at the condition without ever considering the remarkable system that overcame that damage to get it into our hands.

I was admittedly surprised when the story took a different turn. A boy, his mom, and his dog retrieved that package from the New York City gutter, noticed the address, and added it in their loaded van as they made their way to San Francisco. The precise locations are indicated in effective illustration elements, never mentioned in text, and are an excellent example of the rare instances in which an author DOES need to provide simple art notes.

The underlying focus on our amazing USPS services (Neither snow nor rain...) applies to this family's journey. Throughout, the text is spare but exactly suits such an emotionally deep and physically sprawling story, including the powerful line that extends far beyond the page: 

"Not all packages travel the same road, Some get lost. Some get found."

This story involves absence, loss, moving away, hopes, departures, and arrivals, as well as the power of outreach. In this case, it reunites old friends and sparks new friendships. It underscores my belief that physical objects (and letters) are links of love, offering material evidence of connections and caring. (I urge you to read more of the backstory on how this all developed, explored in a wonderful interview with Richard Ho on a blog you should follow, Picture Book Builders, HERE.)

Now, as promised, I'll return to my personal relationship with USPS. If you only came for the picture book recommendation, feel free to leave now. First, I'm delighted to report that the school I call home, even after retirement, continues to utilize the USPS WEE DELIVER program in which third grade classes rotate monthly duties related to managing a full-school postal system. For more details about this, in case you'd like to recommend it for a school near you, are HERE.

As I said, I have no immediate connection with postal employees, and yet... I do. Just as Mr. Rogers helped generations of young viewers learn through his postal delivery friends, I have "known" my neighborhood mail workers my entire life. I've always understood they were among Mr. Rogers's famously trusted "helpers".

That was true when that person walked neighborhood streets to deliver my family's mail, or filled rows and rows of individual boxes in a dorm or apartment complex, and when they reached me on rural routes as mail was delivered by truck.

In every case, those individuals were familiar faces and ones I could count on. Ones I could trust.

Lynn is the mail carrier who handled my route since I moved to my present home, more than two decades ago. Lynn retired yesterday. Throughout those years, for me and for everyone on her route, she has been an encourager, sympathizer, cheerleader, and weird-address-figure-outer. (Where I live the addresses are so strange that i was once asked if it is a prison address. FYI- it is not.) 

She has also been the dog-godmother for every canine in the area. Not because she gave snacks, but because she genuinely loved those fur balls who thought she came each day for a short and overdue visit, just for them, She has celebrated new puppies, followed their life sagas, and mourned with us as they passed. 

I will stay in touch with Lynn, but even the most loyal, reliable replacement will never fully take her place. I will, however, thank them for their friendly service, log on and praise the clerks at the post office every single time I mail packages, and lobby political representatives to finally, fully, secure our amazing USPS. Perhaps you'll give some thought to doing that, too.

The Right Tool for the Job: Specialty Titles, including GO, PEA, GO!

The false alarm issued by the New York Times in 2012 that picture books were fading into oblivion launched me into the blogosphere to protest that misguided view. The widespread and overwhelming rejection of that claim has been supported by sales numbers and publishing patterns during the ensuing years. 

Picture books are often marketed as having a target age, a concept that I believe is often ill-conceived. In fact, the gist of the original NYTimes article was that picture books would, in the future, be limited to those aimed at babies and toddlers, rapidly replaced by "big-kid-books" and/or media in digital format. There are, certainly, picture book titles that are outgrown in content and subject matter, just as there are picture books whose content, language, or frame of reference require more age and life experience. My posts generally focus on the ocean of titles that fall somewhere between those shores, offering value and appeal across many ages, purposes, settings, and populations. 

With so many other blogs advocating picture books, I've enjoyed the freedom to narrow my focus to suit my own purposes. My posts tend toward picture books that are or could become timeless classics, offer valuable life lessons, explore important topics, or otherwise represent valuable additions to home, library, and classroom collections. 

In this post I'm stepping away from that pattern to look at the specialized market that addresses the use of picture books for very specific purposes such as developing table manners, safety habits, bathing, and toilet training. The list could go on and on, and it does. 

These titles, often in series, serve an explicit purpose but also underscore the bigger picture: books are part of our lives on every level, can do more than entertain, and don't necessarily appeal to everyone equally. An example of that is the FRED ROGERS (of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood) series of titles. 

Another focused series is BEST BEHAVIOR, by Free Spirit Press. Each title is narrowly focused and many include the  title pattern:
  ___________ is not for _____________. 
It's an approach I suspect appeals more to the adults than to the kids involved in the reading of these books. I'd have preferred something like "Hands are for _____________" or "Noses are for _____________", but adults buy the books.

Both of these series showcase images of children in the target age, either through photographs or simple drawings. Both, admirably, picture diverse populations.

Both are also what could be termed early-childhood nonfiction or informational text, and they stay in print because they are well-suited to their purposes and to the ever-renewing market in the target demographic.

Then there's this new release from Running Press Kids (RPKids) , GO, PEA, GO! by Joe Moshier and Chris Sonnenburg. 
This book's exuberant and energetic word play, rhyme, repetition, and a wacky premise combine in a story that succeeds on multiple levels. 
For the intended age (potty training, whatever that age may be) it's entertaining and appealing. It stands up to repetition and the humor will "seep" through to the kids, although I see caregiver adults noting and enjoying the word play more than the kids will.
Those trying to develop sensory awareness (the feeling of needing to "GO") are easily distracted by other activities, so the single-minded effort (and mantra) to "GO, PEA, GO!" will ring true.
It's not timeless lyrical text, but it's accurate enough in meter and rhyme to work. A bonus that adults will  appreciate is the chart (arranged like a race track) and stickers to record success and help establish habits. The stickers limit the usefulness of this book in libraries or group settings, but creating personal charts for each individual is a simple enough process. 

So, take a look at these books and others with specialty purposes. They may well be ones that are fondly recalled FAR into adulthood, right alongside Pat the Bunny. If you find yourself caring for someone at this critical learning stage, give this one a look. 

Running Press Kids is featuring GO, PEA, GO in a blog tour that includes giveaways. To read what others have had to say about this recent release, click the active links below.

GO, PEA, GO!

By Joe Moshier and Chris Sonnenburg

Blog Tour Schedule 

4/22 A Girl and a Boy

4/23 Stacking Books

4/24 Geo Librarian

4/25 Art, Books, Coffee

4/27 Coffee for the Brain

4/28 Mrs. Brown Loves Bookworms

4/29 Unpacking the POWER of Picture Books

4/30 Booktalking #kidlit

5/1 Unleashing Readers

 Click here to link to the RAFFLECOPTER giveaway.

This contest will run from 4/22 to 5/4 @ 12 AM EST. 

Running Press Kids  will give away ONE prize pack that includes a pea plush, pea beach ball, pea tote bag, pea hair clips, stickers, and a copy of the book. 

THREE people will win a pack including a pea beach ball, pea postcards, stickers, and a copy of the book. 

FIVE runners up will receive a copy of the book and stickers. Winners will be contacted by email and must notify us within 48 hours of the notification email with address and acceptance. 

Please note that winners can be from the US only.