April 10, 2025, 12:39pm
On May 2nd, the U.S. Postal Service will unveil a new stamp to kick off Children’s Book Week. The newest honoree to be cast Forever in adhesive is Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight, Moon.
The new pane will pay tribute to your favorite bedtime story via Clement Hurd’s beloved illustrations. Letter writers close to Kansas City can even celebrate the kick-off in person, at a reading/party at The Rabbit hOle. The children’s book museum will host an event with Hurd’s son Thacher.
I’ve personally been excited about postage, lately—thanks in part to a timely reading of Rachel Syme’s Letter Writer… And a corresponding rabbit hole informs me that our sleepy moon is hardly the first kid’s book star to make it through the mail.
Check out the other literary stamps that have honored children’s books and authors over the last century.
Issued in February 1940, this homage to the author of Little Women was worth a then-whopping five cents. Alcott was the only woman recognized in this series celebrating 19th century American authors and poets. She shared the value with Walt Whitman.
In 1974, boomers got this creepy Halloween stamp, commemorating Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
In 1993, Huckleberry Finn got to stick it to the man.
That same “Youth Classics” series Huck appeared in also spotlit Little House on the Prairie, Little Women, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Into the 90s, the post office started serving cheeky. A 1995 series celebrating classic comics gave love to a certain spinach-chugging sailor.
And this much beloved adventure reporter.
In 1998, everybody’s favorite ninth grade novel assignment got stamped, in a series celebrating the Jazz Age.
And The Cat in the Hat—you know the one—got the postal treatment in 99. He was worth 33 cents, which I imagine would have infuriated Gatsby.
The comic book homage continued in 2007, just as the first MCU movies were slouching towards pre-production. A series celebrating Spiderman, Wonder Woman, and the first iteration of the Fantastic Four was a big hit.
(Though this look at a lesser-known incredible is a personal fave.)
The aughts bring more authors. Richard Wright, a former Chicago post office employee and author of Black Boy, finally got his own stamp in 2009. This kicked off a season when several Harlem Renaissance authors got the postal treatment.
Since then, lots of living writers have been honored in adhesive.
In 2008, the post office issued a special series celebrating “cherished characters” from children’s literature.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Wilbur, the Fox in Socks, Maisy, the Wild Thing, Curious George, Frederick, and Olivia (the pig) all made the cut.
Then it’s more cartoons! This 2009 stamp endorsed Dennis the Menace for a respectable 44 cents. We’re thinking today about the late Dennis actor, Jay North, who died earlier this week.
In 2017, another beloved children’s book finally made it to the Forever pile. Here’s a stamp celebrating Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day.
And the late Shel Silverstein also got posted, in 2022. I can personally think of no better way to make a thank-you letter ring sincere than by tacking it with the guilting tree. For what it’s worth.
Welcome to epistolary posterity, moon.
All images via United States Postal Service. Copyright USPS.