Ten Thank-You Letters

Rabbit & Pig #2

by Daniel Kirk

Pig is writing a thank-you note to his grandma when his friend Rabbit comes over to play. Eager to get in on the action, Rabbit writes one of his own . . . and another . . . and another . . . until his flurry of thank-you notes has Pig in a tizzy. Pig just wants to finish writing his note in peace! Fortunately, Rabbit’s last thank-you note reminds Pig how lucky he is to have Rabbit as a friend.

This funny friendship story shows how different personalities can manage to fit together perfectly. Rabbit’s letters to everyone from the president to the crossing guard will have readers chuckling as the delightful duo from Ten Things I Love About You discovers the joy of showing gratitude to the special people in their lives.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Friendship, Animals, Writing, Fiction, School

30 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2014

Reviews

[Abigail]

Rabbit and Pig, those two friends whose story began in Ten Things I Love About You , return in this second picture-book devoted to their adventures. When eager Rabbit interrupts Pig during the process of writing a thank-you letter to his (Pig's) grandmother, he is inspired to write a series of thank-you letters himself. His continual interruptions, and borrowing of envelopes and stamps cause some annoyance for his friend, until he delivers his final thank-you note...

Like its predecessor, Ten Thank-You Letters pairs a sweetly engaging and humorous tale of two friends with appealing multi-media illustrations. The story formula here, in which an over-eager friend continually pesters his much put-upon companion, is similar to that found in such books as Jory John's Goodnight Already! and its sequels, and works very well as a means of exploring the ways in which very different personality types can get along. As with the earlier book, I appreciated the textured feeling of the artwork, which is no doubt owing to the fact that some of the illustrations are painted on wood. Recommended to anyone who read and enjoyed the first book about Rabbit and Pig, and to anyone looking for children's stories about gratitude and saying thank-you.

[Sarah Morton]

Inspired my four-year old to write thank you letters to all the grown-ups in his life.

[raccoon reader]

We've read this a few times over the years, but not as much as some of our other picture books. It falls in the "okay" camp for my kiddo.

[Caroline Daniel]

o Summary: This book is about a little pig who is writing a thank you letter for his grandmother thanking her for the sweater she gave him. He adds a bunch of different information to his letter to tell his grandmother. While he is doing this, he keeps getting interrupted by his friend rabit who is writing a lot of thank- you letters to different people. Pig gives Rabbit paper, stamps, and envelopes to write all of his letters. Rabbit gives Pig a thank you letter for letting him use all of his supplies. That makes pig very happy.
o Grade level: 3th
o Appropriate classroom use: Can teach about how to write letters and how to share. Read aloud
o Individual students who might benefit from reading: students that are in a classroom that is learning about writing letters to people
o Small group use: Can read silently to themselves
o Whole class use: Can read aloud to students to show ten different examples as to write a letter when they are learning about letter writing.
o Related books in genre/subject or content area: none
o Multimedia connections available: youtube video

[Jenny]

Pig is writing a thank you letter to his grandma when Rabbit comes over to see if he wants to play baseball. Pig says he can play when he finishes his letter. Rabbit decides he also wants to send a thank you letter to his grandma...and asks to borrow paper and a pencil. Pig writes a long, detailed letter and so Rabbit finishes much faster than Pig. Rabbit decides to write a second letter of thanks, and then a third, and so on.

I love that Rabbit thinks of so many people he can be grateful for. I love that Pig doesn't just stop at saying thanks...but includes other details in his letter to his grandma. I love that they are writing letters and then mailing them...not just sending an email or a text. This could easily be used when teaching letter writing to children. It could also be used to talk about gratitude and then have children write a letter of thanks to someone that has helped them in some way.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams]

Everyone has to write thank you letters from time to time. I love the great attitude that Rabbit and Pig have. Pig illustrates the many different things you can include in a thank you not and Rabbit illustrates some of the many different people we can thank. On top of it all we have both generosity and reciprocity modeled to us. Such a wonderful book!

**Talking points - Do you like writing thank you notes? Why? Do you like getting thank you notes? Why? Who would you like to write a thank you note to today? What's stopping you?

[Barbara Robarts]

I borrowed this picture book from the library to read to my Primary CTR A class (like Sunday School) for our lesson on "Remembering To Say Thank You." The story is charming, entertaining, funny delightful, and shows how simple it can be to write a nice thank you. It reminds us of some of the people who help us in our lives that often go un-thanked. I read it to pre-screen it for class and a couple more times because I enjoyed it so. I am sure that my 7-8 year old class will enjoy it. After we read Ten Thank You Letters, I will give them the opportunity to write a thank you to someone.

[Ellen Taylor]

Lively story about friends and gratitude. Pig’s friend Rabbit is inspired to reflect on folks he loves and lets them know in thank-you notes.

[Marfita]

I hate didacticism, especially in children's lit. I think a lesson is more effective if it almost slips past the reader. On the other hand, I'm very much in favor of thank you notes, which were big in my family and I still send them. It would be nice to receive them from my younger relatives, but I have to remember that their mother once carved "HELP ME" into her desk with a compass because she was being forced to write thank you notes. I'm lucky to get a text of thank you and I'll accept that.
Still, the didacticism in this bothered me. But the story is fairly cute.

[Cara Byrne]

I try to teach my preschooler the importance of writing thank you notes and showing gratitude, so I was very excited when I discovered this title. The sentiment is sweet and the characters compelling to my preschooler, though I'm not the biggest fan of the illustrative style or more comic-approach to dialogue and text. An Imagination Library pick.

[Joan Arbogast]

This title could be used in language arts classes to teach about letter writing for younger students. Kirk shows two different ways of writing Thank You letters. Piggy chooses the legthier conversational tone. Rabbit is short and to the point. Both are likeable characters.

[Henry Claxton]

The book is a great introduction to help students understand appreciation, generosity, and the patience required to be a good friend! The graphics are a bit strange. I loved the idea of a friend waiting for another friend to finish a thank you letter for his grandma following a birthday gift.

[Goshen PL Childrens]

Read for CuTieS book club December 12, 2022
Theme: Letters & Mail

A cute little story that serves as a reminder about all the people that we need to remember to thank! A great prelude to our book club activity of writing Christmas cards and thank you letters.

[Lacy | literary_lacy]

This was a cute book about the importance of writing thank-you letters! It was very cute, and teaches kids to be thankful and to tell people thank you. It’s good to say “thanks” even if the person doesn’t buy you something. Thank-you is always nice and polite!

[Nikki]

I enjoyed reading this book to my daughter. Pig wants to write a thank you letter to his grandma but keeps getting interrupted by Rabbit. I love this book because it teaches children to be thankful.

[Pam]

Clever story about gratitude and appreciating people around you. While Pig writes one thank you note to his grandmother, Rabbit is inspired to write to many of the people in his life.

[Tommie Branscum]

A clear choice for teaching a letter writing unit! Lots of great thank you letter examples. VSBA nominee 2017-2018.

[Amanda]

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great reminder to me as an adult, and to remind my kids of how important it is to thank others for what they do for you.

[Colin]

We got this book from the library, mostly because I hope to teach my sons the dying art of maintaining correspondence. I liked it!

[Monica Lit]

Loved this book!!! Most of us are never as thankful as we should be... Cute approach to teaching children to be grateful.

[Lawrence Palmer]

This book goes into a story about a young child and the importance of giving and receiving thank-you letters.

[Peyton]

Good way to illustrate Thank You's, counting, and categorizing.

[♡ Angie ♡]

Dolly Parton is a national treasure!

[Melissa]

Since Lincoln has been writing letters since March to friends and family, a book about writing letters was cute.

[Ashley]

Cute book, added an extra star because I love writing letters! It’s fun to teach kids about “snail mail”.

[Leslie]

I’m a fan of thank you letters and this book is a great story about writing letters to those who make your life better. A great lesson prompt or library project book.

[Polly Crandall]

Books about manners are always useful.

[Wendy]

Remembering all those who have touched our lives.

[Emily]

Strange font choices and a wonky last page, but 4 year old looooved it and I appreciated the depth dedicated to one scene/moment between 2 friends.

[Spencer]

2021
Gift from Harper's grandmother