Return to Sender

by Kevin Henkes

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

Genres: Middle Grade

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Kevin Henkes is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. As an illustrator he won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon (2004). Two of his books were Newbery Medal Honor Books, Olive's Ocean in 2004 and The Year of Billy Miller in 2014. His picture book Waiting was named both a 2016 Caldecott Honor Book and a Geisel Honor Book. It was only the second time any author has won that combination of awards.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written when Henkes was still a student, his first novel. I would not have guessed it: timeless and universal, probably especially for ages 8-11. I know a lot of you, my GR friends, are fans of Henkes - don't skip this one!

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kevin Henkes's debut novel hits some sizable bumps in the road, but one can already see the elements that eventually earned him multiple Newbery Honors. Summer is Whitaker Murphy's favorite season, but the long days with no structure grow stale after a while, so he writes a letter to Frogman, his favorite cartoon superhero from television. Whitaker's parents don't believe Frogman exists in real life, and his little sister Molly is also skeptical. Whitaker hopes for a response, but even he is taken aback when a letter from Frogman arrives. This is proof positive of the superhero's existence—at least, Whitaker thinks so—but his parents don't budge in their unbelief. What more can be done to convince them?

The person who penned "Frogman's" response is Barney Edwards, the Murphys' mailman. He understands a kid's desire for his hero to be real; after all, Barney has children and grandchildren of his own. Whitaker sends a followup letter with more questions and Barney again replies, fanning the spark of Whitaker's childhood faith. Summer concludes and school resumes, where Whitaker starts off on shaky ground with his overweight teacher, Miss Smathers. A new girl sits behind Whitaker in class, a blonde named Felicity Cooper who moved to Whitaker's hometown of Franklinville, Wisconsin from glamorous California over the summer. She and Whitaker wouldn't seem to have much in common, but he finds a kindred spirit in Felicity. The school year might not be as dreary as he feared. As Whitaker's belief in Frogman grows, his parents lose their patience with the fantasy, and Barney feels uneasy about his goodnatured correspondence with Whitaker. But he's come this far, and bolstering a young boy's dream seems like a good thing. Will Barney's final altruistic act prove even to Mr. and Mrs. Murphy that Frogman is real?

Return to Sender could have been a strong story if the pieces fit together better, though I still rate it one and a half stars. Ultimately, I'm not sure I get the point, and in that respect Return to Sender is not unlike The Year of Billy Miller, which won the author a Newbery Honor three decades later. If you want to encounter Kevin Henkes at his best as a novelist, I recommend Words of Stone, Olive's Ocean, or Bird Lake Moon. When he's firing on all cylinders, his novels are a wondrous experience.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

RETURN TO SENDER is a cute little middle school book. If helps to fill the void of books for boys of 8 to 11. Whitaker Murphy is the main character and if the little ditti about "snips and snails" ever had a meaning... it was written for Whitaker. The book is remanence of a softer and more gentle time with mailmen that walk a route and the kids are allowed to talk to them. The book doesn't say, but I bet they all drank out of the water hose!

To me, the value of this book was that it allowed me to reflect on my son's childhood, the frogs in the pockets, that wonderful earthy meanness of little boys who will torture their sister but never allow anybody else to. The water tower! I grew up across the street from the water tower... I know about space ships and red lights... have climbed the tower. You can almost smell the cut grass in this one. It is a short must-read about little boys and how they grow up.

4 Stars

Happy Reading!

FROGMAN LIVES . . . .

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

An imaginative person is a fascinating person, no matter how old he is 😍

[Mustang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that it was cool that Whitaker believed in Frogman! But I didn't like that Whitaker's parents tried to convince him that Frogman wasn't real. I wish that Barney hadn't done graffiti and pretended to be Frogman. But Barney was nice over all!

[Sharie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: outs certain cultural myths surrounding winter and spring holidays that parents might not be ready to divulge to children yet

[Gracie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was amazing. The characters were good. The setting was a good setting. The setting was a town.

[Alison Levie · Rating 3 out of 5]

To the dismay of his parents, Whitaker believes that Frogman, a superhero in comic books and on TV, is real. Barney, the postman, who still keeps his heart in childhood, responds to Whitaker's letter, pretending to be Frogman. I had real questions about where this book was going, but the characters showed surprising growth. While I don't think this is a great book, I do think many of my students would find it entertaining. However, it gives information about some common childhood myths that might be letting the cat out of the bag prematurely. I would guess this book is an O or P.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a weird little book, but it hit me right somehow. I loved the bizarre illustrations inside. It's appealingly dark in that way that so much children's and young adult lit is. I don't think many people have read it, but it definitely deserves a cult following...