12x07 - Hail to Mail

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

Hi! There's nothing
I like better

Than opening my mailbox

And finding it
filled with letters.

I can't wait to go through it.

Post cards, letters--these
get my immediate attention.

It's amazing what comes
to you through the mail.

"Attention, liver barton,

You may have already won
ten million dollars."

Hmph. "Liver barton"!

Junk mail goes in
the recycling over there.

Two points.

Hmm. What's this?

[Honk]

It's the bicycle
horn I ordered.

I like the mail.

You never know
what will arrive.

What kind of mail
do you get?

Letters from friends
in the philippines.

Souvenirs from
north carolina.

A valentine from my mom,
special to me.

Once, I got a map.

I get letters with pictures
of my cousins inside.

A letter
from egypt.

A coconut.

I get computer games.

Big packages.

Post cards.

Baseball posters.

Christmas cards.

A very big radio.

[Doorbell rings]

I wonder who that is.

Cheryl!

Here's a special
delivery for you.

I just need
your signature.

Perfect.

There.

Thank you.

Thank you.
Have a great day!

It's from
my friend phil.

I wonder
what he sent.

There's a note inside.

"Dear levar, just got
back from vacation.

"Seven straight
days of rain.

"Luckily,
I found a bookstore.

"I know you love reading,

"So I thought
you'd enjoy this book.

Have fun, phil."

Hail to mail.

[Knock knock]

Who's knocking
at my door?

His badge is stamped
number four.

His bag is
big and fat.

His coat is blue,
so is his hat.

Is it him?
It must be him!

New york mailman
mr. Tim

Carrying bags
of mail today,

From boston,
austin, and l.a.,

From reno, round-up,
harpers ferry,

Pittsburgh, plattsburgh,
pondicherry.

He started
his rounds at 7:00,

Lightening his bag
at 11:00.

He reached the bottom
by 3:00,

After he had
seen me.

"A certified letter
for john peck.

Postmarked from
schenectady."

"A certified letter
for john peck?

But he left yesterday!"

"Yesterday?
Where did he go?"

"To boise, idaho."

John peck is flying

Over wheat fields lying
like gold across the plain.

The letter follows,
through hills and hollows

In a car of
a speeding train.

See parcels, sacks,
and letters in stacks

Arranged row after row.
Two blue-coated clerks

Spend a night's work,
sorting it as they go.

Post cards for skokie,
a box for milwaukee,

Magazines for monroe,
a sack for willamette,

A certified letter
for boise, idaho.

Boise's mailman
strides along.

His heavy bag
makes him strong.

His uniform might
make you laugh--

It's only
there by half.

There's his hat,
but not the rest,

Except the badge
on his chest.

His step is firm.
He's filled with pride.

His letter is
marked "certified."

Around him
people hurry by.

Cars honk,
trucks roar,

Babies cry.

Arriving at
the hotel,

The doorman
knows him well.

"Certified letter for
john peck?

Room 36?"
"Let me check.

"Sorry, friend,
I hate to say,

Peck left for zurich
yesterday."

Put your letter
in the mail.

By itself, it won't
get anywhere.

Once mailed,
it rolls, flies, sails

Over land, over sea,
through the air.

Letters can travel
without trouble.

Take a stamp, lick it--
don't need a ticket.

Passenger sealed,
ready to roll

On a journey
all over the world.

It won't eat or drink
on the way.

One thing it will say
as it comes to land--

"Certified for john peck,
zurich, switzerland."

What a beautiful city!
The views!

The lake, its
boats and canoes.

The mountains,
the valleys,

The buses or trams
or trolleys.

The conductor stands
on one leg and shouts,

"Last stop, griesernweg!"

Down griesernweg,
herr schmidt

Goes stepping,
lickety-split.

On his head,
a blue mailman's hat,

And himself,
thin as a slat.

At a glance,
he takes in the scene

And goes straight
to number 19.

He gives the brass
knocker a knock.

"A letter for
herr john peck!"

The landlady cranes her neck,
studies the letter.

"Ahh! Peck! Alas, sir,
your timing is ill.

He's just gone
off to brazil!"

The ship departs
within a minute,

Suitcases filling
cabins to the limit.

But one cabin is not,
for each ship has a spot,

When setting sail,
for bundles of mail.

The sunset is vermilion.
All weary from the heat,

Brazilio,
the brazilian mailman,
rests his feet.

A most unusual letter
is lying in his hands,

Wrinkled, frayed, and tattered,
with stamps from several lands.

And scrawled in red pencil,
beside the last postmark--

"The addressee has left brazil.
Please forward to new york."

Who's that knocking
at my door?

His badge is stamped
number four.

His shoulder bag
is big and fat.

His coat is blue,
so is his hat.

Is it him?
It must be him!

New york mailman
mr. Tim.

Opening the door,
he hands me

A certified letter
for john p.

"For peck? Hey, john!
Another one!

Maybe the same one?
Come and see!"

John jumped up
where he sat.

"I'll be darned!
Look at that!

"The letter's followed
my tracks

"Around the world
and back!

"It went by water,
air, and land

"To idaho,
to switzerland,

"As far as
the amazon.

"By ship, plane, train,
it traveled on,

"Across the mountains,
over the sea,

Until it finally
came to me."

And all that,
thanks to those who go,

Through dusty heat
and freezing snow.

Glory to them,
I say, and hail

To their heavy bags
that bring the mail.

Yeah.

When I write a letter,

I choose my words carefully.

I have my own way
of saying things,

And so do you.

"Dear uncle and aunt..."

"Dear dad..."

"Dear mr. President..."

"Dear grandma..."

"Dear nicky..."

"My dog..."

"I am lucky to have you
as a grandma."

"I hope you are having fun."

"Dear mommy,

"How are you feeling?

Does your operation
still hurt?"

"Happy birthday, mom.
Yours truly..."

"Sincerely..."

"Julie."

"Love, leanna."

When you write a letter,
you put your thoughts on paper.

That's just the beginning.

Every letter, whether
traveling across town

Or overseas,
goes on a journey.

Morning, tommy.
How are you?

O.k.

Did you mail
a letter today?

Yep.

A birthday card?

No.
I thanked my grandmother
for my birthday present.

There it is!

Letters from all over town

Meet at the post office.

Here, thousands of pieces
of mail are sorted every day.

Boxes of mail
are dumped out,

Shuffled,

And moved onto
a conveyor belt.

While large packages
are picked out

For special handling,

Regular letters
keep on moving.

These machines can
read an average

Of 10 addresses
and zip codes every second.

That's 600 letters a minute!

But even a super-fast machine
can't read scrawls or scribbles.

Postal workers
help out.

With all the sorting done,
people in the post office

Know where all
the mail has to go.

Up, up, and away

To cities and towns
across the country.

Finally, each letter
reaches its destination

And makes someone
very happy.

Hi, neil.

Morning,
mrs. Kelley.

Anything special?

Something from
garden city.

From my grandson.
I hope he'll visit soon.

That would be nice.

It would. Thank you.
See you tomorrow.

Today, it takes your letter
a few days to reach someone.

There was a time
when it took much longer.

Watch out,
mr. And mrs. America!

There's a letter
coming your way!

It's trotting
through trenton...

Chug-chug-chugging
through chattanooga...

And flying over fresno!

No road was too rough
for our postal pioneers,

No job too tough.

Well, except that one.

Don't give up!

Look who's counting on you!

Day and night,

Millions of pieces of mail

Move through
parcel-packed post offices.

When every last letter
has been launched

And every post card
pigeonholed,

Away they go!

Crisscrossing our country
from one metropolis to another.

And where do they land?

In hands all across america.
Thank you, post office!

This letter is almost
ready to go,

But it needs

One more thing.

A stamp.

I like stamps that
really stand out.

Let's see...

Some bird stamps...

Here are my eagles...

Ahh, musical comedy theater...

Oh! This is the perfect
stamp for this letter.

There!

The stamp can be as interesting
as the letter inside.

I'm matthew ross.
I'm 12 years old,

And I'm a stamp collector.

I started collecting stamps

Because I had other collections,

Like marbles, rocks,
baseball cards.

I collect stamps
because they're pretty

And they're interesting
to look at.

There are so many
different varieties

That collecting stamps
could never bore me.

Sometimes, I get my stamps
from old envelopes,

So I cut the stamp off
and soak it in a bowl of water.

When it's ready,
I pick it up with tweezers.

This is a ladybug stamp.

Looks like it has
a few creases.

Let's use the stamp press.

Right here.

Put it in here.

We start screwing
down like this.

Tightly...

Wait a little bit...

And it's all done.

O.k. It's fine. It took out
all the creases here.

This is one of
my favorite stamps.

It's a stamp that was sent up
in the spacecraft challenger

And returned back to earth
a few days later.

"Launched august 30, 1983,
aboard the challenger,

And returned back to earth
september 5, 1983."

This is a united states
one cent postage stamp

Issued between


It's in
mint condition,

Meaning it's never
been used.

It has full gum,

Which is the glue
on the back of it.

These here are called
perforations.

The perforations are what
connects stamps together.

This stamp has
fine, engraved detail,

Which means it has
very, very small design.

If you were to feel it,
it would be slightly bumpy.

Stamps come from
different countries,

In different
shapes and sizes.

This is a stamp from
czechoslovakia.

It's a view of prague,
the capital of czechoslovakia.

This stamp is from nicaragua.

It's an air-mail stamp.

It has an airplane
in the background.

If you want to start
collecting stamps, it's easy.

You can buy 1,000 stamps
at the store for only $1.00.

You can also collect stamps by
the letters you get in the mail.

Every letter brings you a story,
just like every book.

To find out more
about the mail,

Here are three
special deliveries

Waiting at your
local library.

But don't take
my word for it.

There's no better way to get
a letter than to send a letter.

Messages in the mailbox
helps you write them.

There are many different
kinds of letters.

There are friendly letters you
can write to anyone you like.

Need to write
a party invitation?

It's here in the book.

Have a sick friend?

Learn to write
get-well letters.

You can write
to newspapers,

To your senator--

You could even write
to the president.

I'm earl ashmeal.

Before reading this, I didn't
know how to write a letter.

Now I'll try it.

Why don't you?

Here's a really fun
and different kind of book--

Stringbean's trip
to the shining sea.

Post cards help
tell the story.

Stringbean
and his brother fred

Travel to
the pacific ocean.

While traveling,
stringbean writes post cards.

He sends them to his mother,
father, and grandfather.

Some of the post cards
are really wacky.

This is a restaurant
they stopped at.

It was shaped
like a boot!

There are pictures of
their adventures along the way.

Here, the bears came
a little too close.

How about this one of
stringbean's dog, potato.

I'm sophie.

I never imagined a story
told with post cards.

It's fantastic.

I got ideas
for my next trip.

You're really not supposed to
read other people's mail

But it's o.k. In
the jolly postman.

The postman delivers mail
to different characters.

You might know
some of them.

Here is a letter from
goldilocks to the three bears.

She's sorry for going
into their house.

Look at this crazy ad
to the wicked witch.

Even
the envelope
is funny.

There's a post card
from jack to the giant.

Cinderella's in here, too.

I've never seen
books like this.

It's great!

I'm christina.

Have yourself a great time
reading other people's letters

In the jolly postman.

When you send a letter,

It connects you to
someone you care about.

Writing is a great way
to let people know

You're thinking about them,

No matter how far away
they may be.

See you next time!

♪ Butterfly
in the sky ♪

♪ I can go
twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪♪

Today's reading rainbow books
are...

Hail to mail,
by samuel marshak,

Translated by
richard pevear,

Illustrated by
vladimir radunsky,

Published by
henry holt & co.

Stringbean's trip
to the shining sea,

By vera b. Williams
and jennifer williams,

Published by
greenwillow books,

A division of
william morrow & co.

Messages in the mailbox,
how to write a letter

Written and illustrated
by loreen leedy,

Published by holiday house.

The jolly postman,
by janet and allan ahlberg,

Published in the u.s.a.
By little, brown and company.

Published in the u.k.
By reed children's books.