The book selected randomly this morning is

The Jolly Christmas Postman

By Janet and Allan Ahlberg

This book really appeals to me. The appeal is the same appeal that it would have for small children.  You know the book, Pat the Bunny? Kids love that book because of the tactile pages. As I recall, there is a soft bunny tail and a little sandpaper tongue and other things to touch and feel. This book is even better. It is even better than a popup book.

Before I get to ahead of myself, let me tell you the premise of the book.  The Jolly Postman delivers mail in fairy tale land. In the story, he makes six deliveries. The book is written in verse and has many wonderful illustrations throughout.

“Once upon a Christmas Eve

Just after it had snowed,

The Jolly Postman (him again!)

Came down the jolly road;

And in the bag upon his back

An… interesting load.”

Okay, so here is the irresistible part to me. Each envelope the postman delivers has something in it! Yes, there are pieces that come out of the envelopes. How cool is that?  For example, Baby Bear gets a Christmas card from Goldilocks that has a joke in it. (The joke isn’t that funny but that isn’t the point. And it might be hilarious to a child.) Red Riding Hood gets a board game from Mr. Wolf and Humpty Dumpty gets a jigsaw puzzle from all the King’s Horses and all the King’s Men.

How can you resist a book that has pieces in it? And the pieces are very cute. It is fun to go through and see what each character receives.

There are three Jolly Postman books. The Jolly Postman,  The Jolly Pocket Postman and The Jolly Christmas Postman.  There is also the Jolly Postman Postcard Collection which is a collection of 30 postcards featuring images from the books.

So here is the “bad Mom” part of my story. I am willing to bet any amount of money that I didn’t let my kids play with this book because, well, they were kids and they would have lost pieces and it would have been torn.  So silly.  Oh well, maybe someday (in a far, far distant time, please) there will be grandchildren (take your time, kids!) to play with the book.

Thanks for reading!