Dear Annie (1991)
When Annie is born, her grandfather starts writing her letters, which she keeps in a shoebox and brings in for show-and-tell. The class makes a bulletin board called “mail from everybody”. My father continues to write Jenna letters. We have over one hundred letters in a ten-year-old shoebox, which Jenna no longer lets me take with me on school visits. She tells me that it’s too valuable.

“The affection between a grandparent and child is rarely captured with such easygoing warmth. Everybody needs a pen pal like Grandpa, so get out the stamps and crayons.” --BCCB

“Dear Annie ringingly communicates that literacy begins long before the school years…” --Sesame Street Parent’s Guide