When teaching children how to properly write letters, whether it is friendly letters or persuasive letters, providing a model is always of great benefit. A variety of picture books can be helpful and add a great visual for students to use in their learning process. This list of book recommendations is sure to draw students in and help them improve their skills in letter writing. Check out these 20 books for your next letter-writing unit.
1. The Gardener
This award-winning picture book is written through a collection of letters that a young girl sends home. She has moved to the city and brought many flower seeds with her. As she creates a rooftop garden in the busy city, she hopes her flowers and beautiful contributions are enough to bring smiles to those around her.
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2. Dear Mr. Blueberry
While this is a fiction book, there are tidbits of true information in it as well. This charming picture book shares an exchange of letters between a student and her teacher, Mr. Blueberry. Through their letters, the young girl learns more about whales, which she mentions in her first letter.
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3. Yours Truly, Goldilocks
This adorable little fairy tale spin is an engaging book for all age groups! This is a fun book that is entertaining and can be a wonderful way to introduce the unit of letter writing to students. This adorable book is a sequel to Dear Peter Rabbit.
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4. I Wanna Iguana
When a young boy wants to convince his mother to let him have a new pet, he decides to take it up a notch and write persuasive letters to her. Through the course of the book, you will read the back and forth correspondences between mother and son, each presenting their arguments and comebacks. This hilarious book is one of many of this style and format from author Karen Kaufman Orloff.
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5. The Thank You Letter
What begins as simple thank you letters after a birthday party, a young girl realizes that there are so many other letters that could be written for other reasons and to other people as well. This book would be a great way to tie letter writing to the personal lives of your students, as they read the examples from the book. Whether to your closest friends, members of the community, or people in your family life, there is always someone deserving of a thank you letter.
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6. The Jolly Postman
Enlightened readers will enjoy this entertaining book as students read the letters between different fairy tale characters. One of the cutest books of correspondence, this beautiful book is also full of detailed illustrations.
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7. A Letter to Amy
A story about a letter written to Amy begins with a fun book about a birthday party. When Peter wants his friend Amy to come to his birthday party, he sends a letter. Before the days of electronic mail, this sweet story is a reminder of the power of a written letter.
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8. Can I Be Your Dog?
An adorable letter book, this one is told from a series of letters written by the dog, trying to get himself adopted. Which one of the neighbors will decide they want to adopt these sweet pups? He tells them all the benefits of adopting him, and he really sells himself on all of his best qualities.
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9. The Night Monster
When a young boy confides in his sister about a scary monster at night, she tells him he should write a letter to the monster. When he does, he is surprised to begin receiving letters back from the monster. Not only is this book a great letter-writing book, but it is also an adorable interactive book, complete with lift-the-flap features.
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10. The Day The Crayons Quit
When the crayons decide they are tired of being used for the same old things, they decide to write letters explaining what each of them would prefer to be used for instead. This story, told in letters from each color of the rainbow, is a hilarious story to bring out the giggles in little ones.
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11. The Journey of Oliver K Woodman
Through reading the letters and following a map, you can join Oliver K. Woodman on his journey across the country. This would be a great way to incorporate letter writing into learning for students. Whether they choose to write to influential people, family, or friends, this book is a great one to encourage letter writing.
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12. Dear Baby, Letters From Your Big Brother
When Mike learns he is going to be a big brother, he takes the job very seriously. He begins writing letters to his new baby sibling. This touching story is a sweet tribute to the special relationship between a brother and his little sister.
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13. The Lonely Mailman
This colorful picture book tells the story of an old mailman who rides his bike through the woods each day. He does a good job delivering letters to all the forest friends, but he never seems to get any letters of his own. One day, all that changes.
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14. Dear Dragon
Two pen pals form a fantastic friendship, sharing everything about life between them. Written in rhyme, this story is a great addition to any letter-writing unit. There is one interesting twist, however. One of the pen pals is a human and one is a dragon, but neither of them realizes this.
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15. Dear Mrs. LaRue
Poor Ike the dog is away at obedience school, and he is not happy about it. He spends his time writing letters to his owner while working hard to find any excuse to be sent home. This adorable book will show great examples of letter writing and will humor readers of all ages.
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16. Letters From Felix
When a young girl loses her beloved stuffed rabbit, she is so sad until she realizes he has embarked on a worldwide tour of many major cities. Felix the rabbit sends letters to her, in stamped envelopes, from all over the world.
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17. Diary of A Worm
In this series of books, the text is in the form of diary entries written by the animals in the book. This one is written by a worm and documents his daily life and tells of how different life is for him from the human readers learning about his life.
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18. Click, Clack, Moo
Another classic from Doreen Cronin, this funny farm story is hilariously written about a group of animals who decide to make demands on their farmer. Things will always end up with a funny twist when farm animals get their paws on a typewriter!
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19. Dear Mr. Henshaw
A touching chapter book that addresses the tough topic of divorce, Dear Mr. Henshaw is an award winner. When a young boy writes to his favorite author, he is surprised to find return letters. The two form a friendship through their friendly letters.
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20. Wish You Were Here
When a young girl goes away to camp, she is not happy with her experience. When the weather improves and she begins to make friends, her experience begins to improve. Through her letters home, students can read about her experiences.
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