Post Office Phobia? I Do Not Like Yolanda! by Zoey Abbott

Bianca loves all things epistolary!

She loves decorating her envelopes with clever colored illustrations. She loves stamps (and even collects them). She loves to write letters to her Grandma in Washington, D.C., her globe-trotting Grandma making port somewhere, and her several far-flung pen pals, even thought writing letters is not easy.

YOU'VE GOT TO SPELL WORDS CORRECTLY SO SOMEONE ELSE CAN READ THEM.

YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE INTERESTING THINGS TO SAY, OTHERWISE YOU MIGHT JUST BORE THEIR PANTS OFF.

And then there's the post office. Bianca likes the post office and all the many kinds of stamps. But... she's terrified of having to be in Yolanda's line.

THAT LADY GIVES ME NIGHTMARES!

One day Bianca spends an hour decorating the front of her envelop with a illustration, but when Yolanda weighs the letter, she slaps an ugly postage label right across Bianca's colorful drawing. Her bright red pointy nails scratch! And the next time Bianca tries to buy stamps from Yolanda, she flinches, dodging those nails, losing a nickel and leaving without enough change to buy her stamps.

But one day is a five-letter day, and Bianca resolves that Yolanda is not going to scare her. But when she arrives at the post office, guess who is the only clerk available? Bianca screws her courage up to the sticking point and approaches the counter bravely.

Quickly she blurts her request:

"I'LL TAKE THREE INTERNATIONALS AND TWO DOMESTIC STAMPS... AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEKEND?"

Yolanda looks surprised and bends forward ....

And smiles a big friendly smile...

"WELL, I SERVED ONE OF THE MOST DELIGHTFUL MEALS ANYONE EVER PREPARED..."

"TELL ME MORE!" I SAY . . . .

All's well that ends with sharing menus, in Zoe Abbott's just published I Do Not Like Yolanda (Tundra Books, 2021), as Bianca learns that she and Yolanda have some things in common, mail, stamps, menus, and recipes. In this charmingly amusing story of fears and friendships, author illustrator Zoey Abbott shares a simple lesson of reconsidering first impressions. Abbott's detailed illustrations of her chatty epistolary heroine and her supposed nemesis are full of humorous touches that young readers will love. Says School Library Journal, “A book that will inspire readers to find their own pen pals, a good book, and a new friend.”