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    Return to Sender
    Return to Sender
    Return to Sender
    Ebook103 pages46 minutes

    Return to Sender

    By Kevin Henkes

    2.5/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    This gentle and funny middle grade book from Newbery Honor author Kevin Henkes will appeal to fans of Frindle by Andrew Clements and Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary.

    When Whitaker writes a letter to Frogman, a TV superhero, his family laughs, but they stop laughing and start wondering when he receives an answer...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJul 2, 2013
    ISBN9780062284655
    Return to Sender
    Author

    Kevin Henkes

    Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It; A House; A Parade of Elephants; Chrysanthemum; and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

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    2.5/5

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    • 3/5
      Definitely different. I didn't like it a whole lot, but then I'm not a mischievous boy who love superheroes, or an overgrown boy like the mailman. It does have the warmth & heart, and funny bits, we expect from Henkes.

    Book preview

    Return to Sender - Kevin Henkes

    CHAPTER 1

    Dear Frogman

    IT ALL STARTED when Whitaker Murphy sent a letter to Frogman. Honey, said his mother, I really think it’s just a waste of time. His father said, Listen, Whit, it can’t hurt to try. Just don’t feel bad if you don’t get an answer. Molly, his little sister, screamed and said that she’d die if Frogman wrote back. That was all the incentive he needed.

    Whitaker wasn’t sure where Frogman lived, so he simply wrote the words

    FROGMAN—SUPER HERO

    in large capital letters across an envelope, put his own return address in the upper left-hand corner, stuck on plenty of stamps, and mailed it at the box downtown.

    When Orson Pitt, the head clerk at the post office, saw the envelope, he grumbled and groaned. It’s things like this that slow up the service, he muttered as he stamped Return to Sender, Not Deliverable As Addressed on the envelope. Dumb kids.

    Then the letter was placed in one of the cubbyholes in the shelves above Barney Edwards’s desk. He was Whitaker’s mailman.

    Barney first noticed the letter as he shuffled up the Murphy front walk. He saw the stamp. And he saw the words FROGMAN—SUPER HERO. He chuckled. Barney knew the Murphy children and he was certain that Whitaker would be terribly disappointed if he didn’t get a reply, so he gingerly put the letter in his shirt pocket and continued on his route.

    That night at home, after a dinner of three grilled cheese sandwiches, apple slices, corn chips, and cinnamon ice cream, Barney opened the envelope and read the letter. It said:

    Dear Frogman,

    Were you born a frog? Do you really live underwater? Is your skin really green? Or is it fake?

    Your friend,

    Whitaker Murphy

    P.S. My sister Molly is afraid of you.

    P.S.S. She thinks you are slimy and ugly.

    Barney found some stationery, took out his old Remington typewriter, and wrote this reply:

    Dear Mr. Murphy,

    Yes, I was born a frog. Yes, I really live underwater, but just part of the time. And yes, my skin is really green.

    Your amphibious* friend,

    Frogman

    P.S. I am not afraid of Molly.

    P.S.S. I am not slimy and ugly.

    *Go ahead and look that up in your dictionary!

    Just for fun, Barney signed Frogman’s name in green magic marker. After addressing the envelope to Whitaker, Barney sprinkled a few drops of water on it, blurring the letters a bit, for a touch of authenticity. Then he set the envelope on the kitchen table, next to his vitamins, so that he wouldn’t forget it in the morning.

    The late-August sun was hidden behind Franklinville, Wisconsin’s tallest structure—the water tower—by the time Barney turned the corner onto Kewaunee Street. Whitaker lived on Kewaunee—third from the corner—in the square blue house with the long, rambling porch. Ivy leaves, like musical notes, sang their way up and down and around the railings.

    Whitaker and Molly were sitting on the porch steps, waiting for Barney.

    See, Molly, Whitaker explained, pointing to the water tower, it really is a spaceship. It’s just disguised as a water tower.

    I don’t believe you, Molly said as she dressed her doll and carefully brushed its golden hair.

    Whitaker raised his hands in disgust. Why else do you think it’s painted silver or has that red light that blinks on and off at night, then?

    Molly looked at Whitaker. Last time you scared me, Daddy told me that the light is so airplanes don’t hit it in the dark.

    WRONG, Whitaker protested. He took the doll away from Molly and held it by its hair. This dumb doll is really one of the space creatures. And tonight while you’re asleep, it’s going to turn green like Frogman and eat you!

    Molly didn’t even try to get her doll back. She just ran into the house, shrieking, MO-O-O-O-o-o-o-om!

    Whitaker was too absorbed in tying knots in the doll’s hair to see Barney, who was already approaching the porch. Boy, oh boy, Barney said, it looks like Molly saw a ghost, or a spider, or Frogman, or . . .

    Whitaker turned around quickly and got to his feet, dropping the doll. Frogman? You know him, Barney?

    Well, not personally. But it seems to me I’ve heard of him. He paused. I’ll bet you want the mail.

    Only if it’s for me, Whitaker answered anxiously.

    Let me see, Barney said. There’s a postcard from your Aunt Nancy and Uncle Iggie. They’re traveling in New York. The picture’s of that famous Miss Liberty statue.

    What else? Whitaker asked.

    "Well, I see what appears to be a phone bill. And . . ."

    What?

    One for you.

    Barney held out the envelope to Whitaker. Whitaker snatched it excitedly. He tore open the envelope and saw the signature of his hero, written in what he thought was a perfectly disgusting shade of green. Wow! he shouted. He dashed inside the house, letting the screen door slam. MO-O-O-O-o-o-o-om!

    Barney smiled. He finished reading the postcard, and put it and the phone bill in the mailbox. Then he whistled his way down Kewaunee, the water tower looming in the distance.

    CHAPTER 2

    Who Believes

    SEE? I KNEW HE’D answer me! Whitaker said, as he held up the letter so Mrs. Murphy could read it while she scrubbed the remains of burned

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