The Lonely Mailman

ABOUT THE BOOK
FAMILY ACTIVITIES

Text: Susan Isern | Illustrations: Daniel Montero Galan | Translation to Arabic: Nardeen Dow

Each day, the old mailman faithfully delivers special letters to the forest animals. But the mailman has never received any letters of his own. Then one day everything changes in this touching story of friendship and love.

Family Activities

The mailman rides his bike to deliver letters to the creatures of the forest. Within these letters, we can read about many topics like blame, reconciliation, fears, sorrows, affection, and kind feelings, and we are exposed to a world of beautiful relationships among the creatures of the forest. The ...

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Dear Parents,

But this mailman is lonely, like many people we know, who give their soul, time and effort to others without anyone noticing them. The book invites us to see them, pay attention to them, and reciprocate their generosity with thanks and affection.

With beautiful drawings and colors, this enchanting book tells us about friendship, compassion, sympathy, unity, and our ability as individuals to influence the lives of others and bring joy to their hearts with a simple deed.

Family Activities

We can encourage our child to read the letters aloud, and to think of another animal, to whom the mailman shouts: "Hi.... a letter for you!" Who is the sender? What could the letter contain?
The mailman is lonely even though he is busy all day delivering letters. We can talk about what it means to be alone. How does he feel? Do we sometimes feel alone? when?
We can think of someone we know who we feel is alone. How can we make them feel less lonely? We might visit them more often, bring them food they love, accompany them on a picnic, or do something that entertains them and makes them happy.
We can talk about the different types of letters that people exchange, from paper to electronic messages, and about the methods of exchanging letters throughout the ages. It would be fun to take our child to the post-office so we can check our letters together, and send another one.
"Mom, a letter for you!" Together we can design a mailbox from cardboard for our house, and write letters for each other. Sometimes it is easy for us to write down what we find difficult to say, and we may enjoy short letters full of thanks and affection.
The mailman’s forest is full of exotic animals. We may want to get to know them with our child.
How did the letters get to the mailman’s bag? Together, we can follow the little mouse as we look at the beautiful illustrations of this book.
These suggestions were developed by a team working in Al-Fanoos Library from the Ministry of Education and the Grinspoon Foundation.
Enjoy your reading!