Dear Annie

"My grandpa is my pen pal." Annie tells her class at show-and-tell one day. It's true. Annie and Grandpa have written each other letters since the day Annie was born. When Annie was a baby, her mother answered Grandpa's letters. When she got a little older, Annie told her mother what to write. But now that she is in school, Annie can read Grandpa's letters herself -- and answer them, too.

Anne's mother read the letters from Grandpa from the time she was born. As Anne got older the mother scaffolded Anne by growing on what she could do. She would mail the letter with Anne, then having anne dictate to her, then helping when needed to allowing Anne to go from an emergent level to a self-extending level and scaffolding when necessary. By the end Anne was reading, writing and even mailing the letters herself.

Another great moment is when she took her letters to share with her class and it inspired her whole class to do a writing project so the literacy band wagon could continue even farther. I highly reccomend this book for children, parents, grandparents, and especially teachers (this is a great lesson to do a study on states and write to others around the country or world).


Works Wonderfully On Many Levels   May 13, 2000
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

I am surprised more people have not discovered this delightful story; it is a favorite at our house. "Dear Annie" is an excellent introduction to the idea of corresponding with a special pen pal. The exchange of letters can take place before a child can actually write; in the story Annie dictates letters to her grandfather through her mother. We read "Dear Annie" along with "No Mail for Mitchell," "Pooh's Mailbox, and "Toot and Puddle" when my son became interested in the US Mail. All these books well together in theme and tone. After, my son became interested in corresponding with relatives and actually enjoyed dictating "thank you letters."

"Dear Annie" works well on antoher level--illustrating how the bond between a child and grandparent can be deeply enriched by correspondence. Annie's grandfather uses letter to tell Annie stories of his life and to express his love for her. These are two things that grandparents who are geographically distant are not always able to do over the phone. The stories in the book that the grandfather tells are simple, but excellent launching points to start a discussion at home about family and history and changing times.