Customer Reviews

Toddlecreek Post Office

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've spent the last 6 years working in "Toddlecreek Post Office" : there are a number of them in the surrounding areas where I live. It's a sad but true fact that many think we're 'outdated' and 'inefficient' & we'll slip away to become nothing but stories retold by the 'old folk'.

A retiring postmaster acquired a copy of this & has been sending it on a journey for others to read; now we're clamoring to find it. A treasure that I want to have to show my son how life 'used to be'.

I read this book years ago and am still moved by it. It's really a book not only for children but for adults because it speaks to change and loss. And yes, sometimes government brings about these things in its unthinking plod toward whatever it is doing. An unusual book in the best sense.

I cannot agree with the previous reviewer of this book. Shulevitz does present a nostalgic look at life in small town America and perhaps the postal inspector is villainized a bit. But the message here is that relationship and community are to be valued over "efficiency" and budgets. The ending is sad, but in an increasingly depersonalized America, how can you fault him for a gorgeous book and a heartwarming story that attempts to counter the values of speed, greed and the loss of regional character? One lovely book is a small voice in comparison to the values espoused everyday on television and in advertising. I love his books, because they value the simple and most important pleasures in life and are great conversation starters with a group.

Toddlecreek Post Office opens as a pleasant read with beautiful illustrations (bravo) and quirky, likeable characters. However, that takes a turn when the author *seems* to send a political message to young readers (i.e.: that the government (signified by the postal inspector) is "bad" and is to blame when it faces a grim reality in a small-town community). The government is placed in a negative light -- literally -- when the postal inspector arrives, and that attitude continues to the end of the book.
Shulevitz'purpose may have been to depict what small-town life consisted of in the past and how life has changed over time. It could have ended differently. I was left feeling disappointed -- not so much at what sad event ultimately happened in the plot, but rather in how the content (plot) was designed.