Awards

• Short-listed for Buckeye Children's Book Award (Grades K-2) 2001
• Short-listed for California Young Reader Medal (Primary) 2001
• Short-listed for Georgia Children's Book Award (Picture Storybook) 2001
• Short-listed for Young Hoosier Book Award (Grades K-3) 2000

Overview

Nowadays it's no big deal or a girl to travel seventy-five miles. But when Charlotte May Pierstorff wanted to cross seventy-five miles of Idaho mountains to see her grandma in 1914, it was a very big deal indeed. There was no highway except the railroad, and a train ticket would have cost her parents a full day's pay. Here is the true story of how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her won spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail. 00-01 CA Young Reader Medal Masterlist and 01 Colorado Children's Book Award (Pic. Bk Cat.)

Full Product Details

9780064437240

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""A folksy quality and a ring of truth that holds children's interest."" - ALA Booklist"""

Based on a true story is this old-fashioned account from Tunnell (with George W. Chilcoat, The Children of Topaz, 1996, etc.), about five-year-old May's railroad journey via parcel post across the rugged Idaho mountains to visit her grandmother. Unable to purchase a first-class train ticket, May has 53 in stamps glued to the back of her coat and joins the packages and letters in the mail car. Even a cranky old conductor cannot deter May from making it to Grandma Mary's for lunch. A little-known detail in the history of the postal service inspired this 1914 period piece, and while children may wish for more suspense, the matter-of-fact telling is sure to bring quiet smiles as understanding dawns. Rand's illustrations of homey, wood-grained, braided-rug interiors and bundled-up wintry scenes bring warmth to the narrative; sepia-toned illustrations mimicking old photographs add to the notion of the book as part story, part historical record, while a photograph of the real Charlotte May Pierstorff appears on the jacket. (Kirkus Reviews)

A folksy quality and a ring of truth that holds children's interest. - ALA Booklist

Author Information

""A heartwarming period piece based on a true incident, lovingly told, beautifully illustrated,"" raved The New York Times Book Review of Michael O. Tunnell's Mailing May, illustrated by Ted Rand, which was also honored as a 1998 ALA Notable Book. The author of five picture books, two chapter books, two novels, and one documentary, Mike teaches children's literature at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He and his wife, Glenna, have four children and two grandchildren.

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