What do you think?
Rate this book
Mailing May
Nowadays it's no big deal for 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 own spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail.
"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.
Here is the true story of how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her own spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail.
"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.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1997
7 people are currently reading
693 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
April 5, 2009
So, I'm biased. This book is about my great grandmother, and it's a cool piece of family history. My grandmother got to meet and talk with the author, who is a genuinely nice guy. She bought copies of the book for all of her grandchildren, which was also pretty neat. It's a great story, fun illustrations (some of which are almost exact to old family photos, which is strange because the illustrator never saw any photos), and it's all the more fun because it's true.
March 3, 2010
Reading Level: 8 years old and older
It is 1913 and five year old May wants so badly to visit her grandmother in Idaho. The train ticket costs $1.55 - more than her parents can afford. May's ingenious parents come up with a plan - they send May as mail for $.55 as there are no rules excluding sending people. She is stamped and tagged on the back of her coat as a 54lb baby chick. Her uncle is the mail car mailman who escorts her safely. The artwork is a wonderful & charming. A perfect capturing of the story! This story is based on true events. What a fun piece of history to read and wonder about. A great story for discussion.
It is 1913 and five year old May wants so badly to visit her grandmother in Idaho. The train ticket costs $1.55 - more than her parents can afford. May's ingenious parents come up with a plan - they send May as mail for $.55 as there are no rules excluding sending people. She is stamped and tagged on the back of her coat as a 54lb baby chick. Her uncle is the mail car mailman who escorts her safely. The artwork is a wonderful & charming. A perfect capturing of the story! This story is based on true events. What a fun piece of history to read and wonder about. A great story for discussion.
December 8, 2011
1. This book would fall under the category of a picture book, historical.
2. Five year old May wants to visit her Grandma Mary as her parents had promised. The problem was there was no money for a train ticket. She tries to get a job at the local store, but the owner tells her that the jobs are for grown-ups and she is just too little. Her parents decide that they will send May to her grandmother’s house using the US Postal Service!
3. critique
a. The strongest part of this book is its conveyance of historical realities in a way that children can comprehend. The choice of the narrator and point of view allows young children to relate to this book and make some connections.
b. It is difficult for young children to understand that things change over time. The idea of past and present is so abstract that it is hard to get it onto their level. This book, told from the young child’s viewpoint, allows students to connect with ideas that are foreign to them.
c. May tells of her Pa’s salary of only $1.55. That sum is what he makes when he “work[s] all day.” It then tells of May’s experience at the post office. Her parents had not warned her as to what she was going to do, so she experienced the surprise right along with the reader! “Before I knew it, Mr. Perkins had glued fifty-three cents worth of stamps on the back of my coat!” May was off to her grandmother’s house!
4. a curriculum connection
This book would be ideal to use with the first grade concept of past and present. The illustrations show many things that are different but typical in a turn-on-the-century home. The voice of the narrator being about the same age allows the students to connect with her and realize that even though technology has changed, children are still the same.
2. Five year old May wants to visit her Grandma Mary as her parents had promised. The problem was there was no money for a train ticket. She tries to get a job at the local store, but the owner tells her that the jobs are for grown-ups and she is just too little. Her parents decide that they will send May to her grandmother’s house using the US Postal Service!
3. critique
a. The strongest part of this book is its conveyance of historical realities in a way that children can comprehend. The choice of the narrator and point of view allows young children to relate to this book and make some connections.
b. It is difficult for young children to understand that things change over time. The idea of past and present is so abstract that it is hard to get it onto their level. This book, told from the young child’s viewpoint, allows students to connect with ideas that are foreign to them.
c. May tells of her Pa’s salary of only $1.55. That sum is what he makes when he “work[s] all day.” It then tells of May’s experience at the post office. Her parents had not warned her as to what she was going to do, so she experienced the surprise right along with the reader! “Before I knew it, Mr. Perkins had glued fifty-three cents worth of stamps on the back of my coat!” May was off to her grandmother’s house!
4. a curriculum connection
This book would be ideal to use with the first grade concept of past and present. The illustrations show many things that are different but typical in a turn-on-the-century home. The voice of the narrator being about the same age allows the students to connect with her and realize that even though technology has changed, children are still the same.
December 13, 2018
This was a cute and interesting true story about a little girl who was mailed to her grandmother because her family couldn't afford train fare! The illustrations were great, and the writing style felt just right for the period. Very fun!
October 25, 2014
Mailing May is a book based on a true story. The book is about a little girl named, May. May's parents had promised her that she would soon be able to go stay with her Grandma Mary. As the day came, May's parents were not able to send her on the train, as they did not have enough money to afford a train ticket. The news greatly upset May, and her parents knew that it would. Knowing how disappointed their daughter were, May's parents thought of a brilliant method to send their daughter to her beloved, Grandma Mary.
This book was very cute, and I really enjoyed reading it, especially knowing that it was based on a true story. The illustration was amazing, and the photo looked so convincing. The story itself is just such a wonderful little story to read with your child or students. It's a great little historical picture book to share with a child. This book is educational, because from it, you learn how lenient the post office use to be.
This book was very cute, and I really enjoyed reading it, especially knowing that it was based on a true story. The illustration was amazing, and the photo looked so convincing. The story itself is just such a wonderful little story to read with your child or students. It's a great little historical picture book to share with a child. This book is educational, because from it, you learn how lenient the post office use to be.
October 31, 2014
This true story by Michael O. Tunnell gives life to what it is like to live in Idaho in 1914. May wants to visit her Grandma Mary but her family doesn't have enough money to afford a train ticket. Her father gets an idea to ship her off as if she were a package from the post office. Upon inspection at the post office, there was no rule that said May could not be shipped on the train, she was the right weight and everything! Classified as a baby chick, May travels on the post office train. May reaches her grandmother safely and is happy her parents kept their promise.
The illustrations in this book are lovely and accompanied by black and white pictures of the time period. This book would be a great social studies supplement when learning about the mailing system or civil service workers. I also think students could benefit from the history behind the story, also in that it is true!
The illustrations in this book are lovely and accompanied by black and white pictures of the time period. This book would be a great social studies supplement when learning about the mailing system or civil service workers. I also think students could benefit from the history behind the story, also in that it is true!
May 13, 2013
This picture book was mentioned in connection with a photo posted by Ancestry.com of a mailman with a kid in a mail pouch. The US mail discontinued the mailing of children in 1920 (yes, really) but not before Charlotte May Pierstorff was sent by parcel post to visit her Grandma in Idaho (yes, really)...all possible because a clever Dad couldn't afford a train ticket for her. Some company like FedEx or UPS should bring back this needed service for times when you just want to say, "Knock it off or I'm mailing you to Grandma!" They could make millions!
September 14, 2010
We used this for a 2-3 grade book discussion. Great book!
Read
April 29, 2020HISTORICAL FICTION
Title: Mailing May
Author: Michael O. Tunnell
How would you describe the plot? Necessity, as always the mother of invention, inspired this true story culled from U.S. postal lore. May's parents promise her a visit to her grandmother, but when a train ticket through the Idaho mountains is too expensive, her father comes up with a unique solution: he mails her by parcel post instead.
How would you describe the characters? May, being a sweet little innocent girl. Paw and Maw.
What is the main conflict? May's train ticket was too expensive.
What is the main theme? Describing how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail.
How would you describe the author’s style? The illustrations are home and the wintry scenes bring warmth to the story.
What point of view does the author use? first person
What lessons could you teach with this text?
W.3.8: Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources. Take a brief notes. Sort evidence into provided categories.
L.3.5.B: Indentify real-life connections between words and their use.
What is your overall assessment of the book? Has family history and shows just how much times have changed. Can show the changes in past and present day time.
Title: Mailing May
Author: Michael O. Tunnell
How would you describe the plot? Necessity, as always the mother of invention, inspired this true story culled from U.S. postal lore. May's parents promise her a visit to her grandmother, but when a train ticket through the Idaho mountains is too expensive, her father comes up with a unique solution: he mails her by parcel post instead.
How would you describe the characters? May, being a sweet little innocent girl. Paw and Maw.
What is the main conflict? May's train ticket was too expensive.
What is the main theme? Describing how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail.
How would you describe the author’s style? The illustrations are home and the wintry scenes bring warmth to the story.
What point of view does the author use? first person
What lessons could you teach with this text?
W.3.8: Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources. Take a brief notes. Sort evidence into provided categories.
L.3.5.B: Indentify real-life connections between words and their use.
What is your overall assessment of the book? Has family history and shows just how much times have changed. Can show the changes in past and present day time.
October 1, 2020
Mailing May, based on a true story, is an old-fashioned account from Tunnell, about five-year-old May's railroad journey by parcel post across the Idaho mountains to visit her grandmother. Unable to purchase a first-class train ticket, May has 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; as 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. I would recommend this book for students K-3rd. In the classroom, I would create a vocabulary list based off of words in the story and define them as a class.
October 11, 2017
This book is based on a true story. The main character, May wants to go and see her grandma in Idaho, but the train tickets are too expensive for her family to afford. May then decided she wanted to get a job but she was too young. Her family then decided to go to the post office to see if they could actually mail May. They came to find out that they could mail her because she was under 50lbs, but they didn’t mail her like a normal package. They just put stamps on her back and she took the train with the rest of the packages and she finally made it to her grandma’s house. Therefore, this book shows creativity and keeping promises.
March 13, 2020
This book is based on a true story from 1914. Charlotte May Pierstorff was actually mailed from Grangeville to Lewiston, Idaho. Her mother's cousin was the railway postal clerk, so he looked after May during the trip, when they arrived in Lewiston he delivered May to her Grandma Mary. The story is very interesting and the illustrations are fabulous. In each two page spread, the main illustration takes up a page and a half; they are colorful and detailed. There are also smaller illustrations through out the book drawn to look like old sepia photographs. The story is written on a third grade level; second and third grade children usually enjoy listening to the story, and I love reading it.
July 31, 2018
Great for 3rd grade/4th grade unit on biography. I love how the author points out that the lesson of the story is that which ordinary people find wonderful and creative ways to solve difficult problems. This story, in a nutshell, is a about an non-fictional girl who wanted to visit her grandma far away. Her family didn't have money for a train ride and so her parents thought of mailing the little girl since postage was cheaper. Oh, the love for doing whatever it takes to reunite with family is strong.
May 16, 2017
I stumbled across this one shelved in the wrong place in the library, and as my children's lit text mentioned it roughly a thousand times, I took it out. It's a cute story; May is actually mailed labeled as a baby chick, and the postal service loophole does work. More amazingly, this is largely a true story. The illustrations were nearly photographic in their realism. On the whole, it was cute.
July 14, 2017
This picture book is genuinely delightful. The story is amazing and told in such a whimsical way that children end up giggling through a lot of it. The pictures are gorgeous and so adorably capture the joy of a bright-eyed young girl. The only thing I didn't like: the front cover. For some reason it made the book look boring and un-interesting to my children, but when they cracked it open, they all ended up loving it. So, don't be deterred by the cover, I guess. ;)
October 8, 2018
I found this little story absolutely fascinating! It’s 1913 and May desperately wants to visit her grandmother, but her parents can’t afford the train ticket. So they find the next-best option.
I love a book that talks about something from history in an interesting, captivating way. My 8 year old was enthralled with the story of May and I think she appreciates that we can just drive to make visits to her grandparents.
I love a book that talks about something from history in an interesting, captivating way. My 8 year old was enthralled with the story of May and I think she appreciates that we can just drive to make visits to her grandparents.
January 20, 2020
I saw this photo on Facebook about how there were a few times where kids had been mailed, and having my mom be 1,000 miles away, I kidded with her that I bet she wished we could still do this with my daughter (who at the time was a toddler.)
I told my kiddo the joke with her Nana and how it had happened. She didn't believe me, of course, but HA! A few years later, I found the book at a library book sale and now she knows it was true.
I told my kiddo the joke with her Nana and how it had happened. She didn't believe me, of course, but HA! A few years later, I found the book at a library book sale and now she knows it was true.
February 19, 2020
I love starting this story by asking the children what it would like to be sent somewhere in the mail (kind of like Flat Stanley). Is it possible to mail a regular person? Why/how or why not/how not? Then I watch their jaws drop as I tell them we are going to read the true story of a little girl who actually got sent to her grandmother's house in the mail. This is one of my favourite read-alouds.
February 20, 2020
Based on a true story which would in this day and age have CPS knocking on your door. The afterward says it best.
While chasing May's story, I discovered details about Idaho in the early twentieth century and about postal history, including mail by rail. However, I discovered that the most important detail has nothing to do with railway schedules or postal rates, but rather with the wonderful, creative ways in which ordinary people solve difficult problems.
While chasing May's story, I discovered details about Idaho in the early twentieth century and about postal history, including mail by rail. However, I discovered that the most important detail has nothing to do with railway schedules or postal rates, but rather with the wonderful, creative ways in which ordinary people solve difficult problems.
March 4, 2020
My kiddos and I loved this book! We especially loved turning the page after the end of the story to learn that the story was true. When I read that part, they were excited that May was a real little girl (over a hundred years ago) and that the events of the book actually happened. The author manages to capture a lot of feeling, including some gentle humor, in the books pages, which really add to the experience of the reader. This would definitely be worth re-reading and owning.
November 8, 2024
Historical Fiction
PreK-3rd grade
This books tells the story of a young girl who is mailed through a train to see her grandmother. The pictures, details, and characters help readers understand how the past operated with mailing and transporation! There is also a heartwarming theme of achieving anything if you put your mind to it. I enjoyed reading this book and finding out details about the true story at the end.
PreK-3rd grade
This books tells the story of a young girl who is mailed through a train to see her grandmother. The pictures, details, and characters help readers understand how the past operated with mailing and transporation! There is also a heartwarming theme of achieving anything if you put your mind to it. I enjoyed reading this book and finding out details about the true story at the end.
November 14, 2017
I picked up this book at the library today for a quick read. I was fascinated to learn this was a true story and marveled at the ingenuity May's parents had in order to send her to her grandmother's house. I definitely recommend this book. It's well written and the illustrations are beautiful. I very much enjoyed it.
July 18, 2018
First heard about this as a thing from the podcast "Just a Story" and then an article popped up about this book telling a piece of history in one of the latest library magazines, and I had to pick it up. It's a cute and fun story about a little girl named May getting shipped to her grandma's as a 48 pound baby chick for $0.53. I love history.
July 1, 2020
I had heard about children being sent through the mail and this book was suggested reading on the topic. The book has nice artwork and presents the story from the point of view of May, a 5 year old girl. I like that this is a true story and that it has a little blurb at the end telling a bit more (though I would have liked the blurb to be a little more.)
September 30, 2020
My 2nd grade son enjoyed this historical fiction picture book based on the true story of a girl who was mailed through the U.S. Postal Service to visit her grandmother. Interesting take on the importance of rail travel in history. He's asked for several rereading of it, which surprised me, but something really captivated him about the idea of being mailed to another city!
October 17, 2021
Although this book could be read and shared with 4 year olds on up, I would love using it with 2nd or 3rd graders and turning it into a little history research project. How were things done yesterday and how are they done today...what did things cost 100 years ago and what are today's prices. The story is delightful and illustrations are nicely done. A unique story that teaches and entertains.
November 3, 2024
One of the standout aspects of "Mailing May" is its ability to convey important messages about community, connection, and the value of relationships in a way that resonates with children and adults alike. Overall, it’s an inspiring read that reminds us of the importance of reaching out and staying connected to those we care about.
April 2, 2018
Great true story about a little girl whose parents couldn't afford to send her by train to her grandmothers. They send her by parcel post instead, classifying her as a baby chick. She arrives and surprises her Grandmother.
September 20, 2018
The story of five year old Charlotte May Pierstorff who was classified as a baby chick, and mailed to her grandmother parcel post for fifty-three cents from Grangeville ID to Lewiston, ID. on February 19, 1914. The trip was seventy-five miles, and no decent roads were available to make the trip.
December 25, 2019
This is delightful! The colorful illustrations are expressive and thorough in showing how young Charlotte May travels by train, to see her grandmother, in Idaho, many miles away. The historical aspect is revealing, and shows how simple life used to be, and how complicated we have made it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews