The Jolly Pocket Postman

The Jolly Postman

by Janet Ahlberg (Illustrator), Allan Ahlberg, Janet Ahlber

Everyone's favorite postman finds himself in Alice's Wonderland, knee-high to a Mad Hatter, but nothing can stop the Jolly Postman from completing his mail route as he travels through the Emerald City with Dorothy and other fairy-tale favorites.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Kids, Young Adult

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 1995

About the author

Janet Ahlberg (1944-1994) was a British children's book illustrator, and the co-creator, together with her husband Allan Ahlberg, of the best-selling Jolly Postman series. Born as Janet Hall in Yorkshire in 1944, she studied at Sunderland Technical College, where she met Ahlberg. The two married in 1969, and began to work together, publishing their first co-venture - The Old Joke Book - in 1976. She won the 1978 Kate Greenaway Medal from the British Library Association - an award recognizing the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject - for Each Peach Pear Plum.

Janet Ahlberg died of breast cancer in 1994, at the age of fifty, having produced many beloved and bestselling books. Her daughter with Allan Ahlberg - Jessica Ahlberg - is also a children's book creator.

Reviews

[Caroline]

This book is adorable and very charming, with tiny books within books. I'm a great admirer of Janet Ahlberg, who wrote one of my favorite children's books (that's also remarkably difficult to find in the U.S., unfortunately): Burglar Bill.

[Diana Maria]

Uuuu, this must be my favourite of the series, with the Jolly Postman having many adventures around many beloved characters in a dream, or maybe not.

[Shanaz Begum]

I love this book!

I cannot believe I have not read this before! It’s a brilliant idea to follow the Jolly Postman on his rounds. The authors have cleverly interwoven the stories of Jack & The Beanstalk, Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. I love the little extras throughout the book. There are “pockets” designed like envelopes, which contain letters, a telegram, a “coded” message, a postcard and a miniature book. I love books which include extras and letters to read.

This book is a great read for children, and the extras engage them totally. It’s a game as much as it is a book. Most of sentences in the book rhyme, which is a bonus. This book can be read to Early Years and Key Stage 1. This book can also be used for letter writing and poetry.

[Sophie Crane]

This is one of my favourite books ever! In this story the postman gets a bang to his head and goes on an adventure where he meets Alice in Wonderland and Dorothy! I love the rhymes and I love opening all the envelopes to see what's inside!

[Isobel]

This classic tale is about a jolly postman delivering letters to different fairytale characters. It is intriguing for children because they can read the letter and the envelopes to find out which letter is addressed to certain fairytale characters.

[Nara]

"Um carteiro que cai túnel abaixo,
um cachorro que cai pé pra cima,
um coelho apressado perdendo papéis
(ele até parecia ter rodas nos pés!.)*
O papel amassado caindo no chão,
um carteiro espantado esticando a mão:
"Ei! Que carta é essa? Porque tanta pressa?"
*E tinha mesmo! "

Só acho que os livros para adultos deveriam ser todos assim também 🤣 Cheio de surpresas, anexos e livros dentro dos livros 😌

[Sarah Coles]

I have heard so many lovely reviews about this story book, and I can understand why! Below are some of the main reasons as to why I rate this book so highly.

- It is jam packed with lots of sweet illustrations and little extras which I am sure would children love to explore independently.
- The format has some lovely introductory rhyming couplets which could be discussed as a whole class.
- There is reference throughout to traditional tales which could be explored at the teacher's discretion. There are nursery rhymes which match to some of theses tales which could be sung in addition to a story time. (e.g. 'Little Miss Moffat' and 'Mary, Mary, quite contrary')
- There is plenty of rich, extension vocabulary such as 'flabbergasted' and 'astonished'.

Overall, a lovely, rich story which ought to be enjoyed by all school children. Whilst it is true that even the youngest of readers should be exposed to rich vocabulary, I personally would avoid reading it with readers younger than five, simply owing to its length.

[Cris]

It’s such a fun series when you get all the references! I got a lot of them, but many are referencing nursery rhymes that, as a foreigner, I’ve never heard as a child and I have to google in the hopes that I’ll find the source of (for example, the phone bill for a rowboat. I thought it referenced the ‘row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream’ nursery rhyme, but then why the walkie talkie in the illustration and phone bill? And the boat being in a lake, not a stream, makes me this it’s probably referencing something I don’t know of.)

I wish I could find a website or someone that analyzed the text and all the references so I could further explore all the little secrets of this fun series. If anybody knows any such source, I would appreciate it so much if they’d point me in its direction!

I think this series is simply genius and you always discover something new reading it. It’s definitely one of my favorite series to read and gift the children in my family and friend group!

[Clwseattle]

I love these Jolly Postman books! I love how intricate and complex yet satisfyingly simple for a little one The Jolly Pocket Postman story is with references to fairy tales, The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. There is so much to see and explore. I've now read all three Jolly Postman books. They are a treasure! My favorite (so far) of the Janet Ahlberg books remains Each Peach Pear Plum

[nana]

infinite stars!!!!!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Rubi]

I finally got my hands on this! Its so cute, but very different from the first two. The postma suffers an accident while making his rounds and dreams (or did he?). There's a bunch of tiny things to read along a stories within the story. I liked it, but it did flow less fluidly than the previous books. Any fan of The Jolly Postman would love this edition!

[Fiona Hill]

Children would find this book very funny because everything seems to go wrong for The Jolly Postman. The book also contains wonderful and beautifully illustrated resources, rich vocabulary and the whole story rhymes which I really enjoyed.

[Daniel Rodd]

Another brilliant book by Janet and Alan Allberg. this interactive book is beautifully illustrated and littered with well know fairy tale characters that children will have heard of. this makes the book so effective as does the cleverly engineered rhyme scheme. a brilliant picture book.

[Max]

I liked reading this with the kids. The letters make it exciting. But I liked the first one better.

[Kate Mcwilliams]

The Jolly Pocket Postman was one of my favorite books as a child, and having revisited it I will definitely be using it in the classroom. This book follows the Postman on his rounds and cleverly introduces characters from both fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Removable extras in the book can be used to engage KS1 children independently. The wonderful and detailed illustrations make the book enjoyable for adult readers too. This is a must use resource for teachers!

[Skye]

Still worth re reading as a grown up!

[Aneesa]

This book did not make sense to either me or the 4yo. Of course, we were missing a few pieces.

[Irene]

As cartinhas minúsculas!!! Quase morri com a fofura.

[May Chan]

It’s the most fun and interactive book we have so far. My 2.5 yo boy loves every bit of it. If I would summarise it in one sentence, it would be the postman and his magical adventure :)

[Bailey]

I think this is a must-read for artists and designers alike. It’s a wonderful little study in crafting a whimsical exciting experience.

[Tara Sanders]

This was an absolute favorite from childhood. I loved it so much, I think I'll have to purchase my own copies.

[Zaru13]

It's very creative, with letters and a magnify glass and a story to flow it's very well done.

[Lulu Cares]

Fantastic! Delightful illustrations!

[Meredith]

Perfection! No notes!

[Katie]

I loved the Jolly Postman books as a child (I still do) and didn't know that this one existed. I love looking in the envelopes throughout. This book is full of whimsy.

[Miss Becky]

This time the Jolly Postman has deliveries for Dorothy from Oz, Alice from Wonderland, and other favorite storybook characters. Has pockets for the letters to be read by the reader.

[Molly]

The Jolly Postman finds himself in Alice’s Wonderland and the Emerald City. An adorable story.

[Lisa]

Delightful. I wish more childrens books were still like this - hand drawn illustrations vs computer graphics. These are the classics.

[Alycia]

5 stars for the illustrations and all the little tiny things inside the envelopes but 3 stars for the story. Averaging to 4 stars. :)

[Rachel]

It's not necessarily the story, or even the illustration that makes these Jolly Postman books so much fun for children, it's all the pockets and the unique messages inside..