When I was a kid, I passed through a stage where I was fascinated by (and utterly taken in by) chain letters. Lucille Lang Day's delightful children's book uses exaggeration and absurdity to demonstrate to beginning readers (and pre-readers) the silliness of chain letters' claims.

At the same time, the author takes young readers on an imaginative trip all over the world that echoes the possibilities of such a letter's travel in a child's mind. Slyly witty illustrations by Doug Dworkin interpret and add to the text with great skill.

The book bids adieu like a letter with "Remember me always," a wish one can imagine the author sending into the future for her grandchildren, and a play on another sign-off ("With love....") Highly recommended. I'll be giving it to my favorite little one for Christmas.