Round as a Mooncake letters arrive

Recently, I wrote a post about a little project Hadley and I did with the story Round as a Mooncake.  We sent out letters to friends in different areas, and in the last couple of weeks they have graciously replied.  Hadley was delighted.

We got out our United States puzzle, and I printed out outlines of the states that the letters came from. 

We got letters from Minnesota:
My friend's daugther, who is in Kindergarten, cut all these shapes out!  Impressive!

Another one from Minnesota:

My friend who made a "Book of Shapes" for Hadley is a former preschool teacher, and gives me lots of ideas for my Book Club.  Personally, I think she should start her own blog, but she just had a baby so I won't badger her.  I will say that I've known her since we were 5, and not only did we go to the same preschool together, but she was one of the only people I wasn't afraid to talk to at school.  And we sat next to each other when we graduated from high school, so it's neat for me to see my daughter looking at pictures of her daughter after all those years of growing up together.  My friends are dope, right Lisa?

We got a letter from Chicago:

Hadley was so excited to recieve this one because she just loves this little girl.  Here she is looking at a picture of she and Hadley at the National Zoo last year. 

We got letters from Michigan:

I love these because they're hand drawn. 

Our last letter is from Texas:

This is one of Hadley's very first friends.  We met him and his mom at our local library for storytime, and he recently moved away.  Hadley was over the moon when she got a letter and pictures from him.

What I liked so much about Round as a Mooncake is that while it is a book of shapes, Roseanne Thong weaved this concept into a story of a child noticing her surroundings and feeling good about them.  As Hadley got each letter, she had a chance to see her friends, and take interest in their surroundings.   And she had all sorts of questions for the children who sent her letters who she hadn't met.  She wanted to know how I know their moms, and it gave me a chance to tell her some stories about my friends, too.  So while the concept of learning about shapes might've been simple, the idea of noticing one's surroundings, being interested in them, and feeling happy about one's environment is a little more difficult.  I appreciate that I could introduce this idea to Hadley through a story.  I also appreciate the friends who helped me out with it.