Axel Scheffler says: “There is nothing quite like writing and sending a handwritten postcard to a friend. I have lived in England for 40 years and keeping in touch with friends and family in Germany in this way has been very important to us. A postcard or letter is personal and unique; it is like a gift in itself. There is also nothing quite like receiving a card or letter through the post. It always brightens your day. It is nice to think about the person sitting down and writing the card – and they can picture you receiving it. The whole process is a sign of true friendship.”
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I am thrilled to announce that Axel Scheffler has designed an exclusive Postman Bear “World Postcard Day” postcard especially for The Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society! As you can see it features the adorable Postman Bear posting postcards into the beautiful postbox from The Covered Market – the exact spot where we will be celebrating our 7th birthday this October!
You might recognise Postman Bear from the Tales from Acorn Wood series of books, which are written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.
The Postman Bear postcard is for everyone to use and can be downloaded and printed off via the links below. Just to say the postcard is for personal use only or if you are a teacher for use in your classroom, and of course all copyright rules apply (as shown on the reverse of the postcard). Please make sure both sides of the postcard are printed together.
World Postcard Day on 1st October is a wonderful celebration of the joy of sending postcards and the friendship and connection they make across the miles. Why not find out the name of the place your town or village or city is twinned with and send a postcard to the Town Hall there to say hello. Or if you are a teacher use the photocopiable A4 image to make a class set of postcards to send to a school in your twin town. Or simply send one to a friend or loved one to say you are thinking about them.
Join us in making this World Postcard Day one to remember!
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Print the Axel Scheffler Postman Bear Postcard
Download here -> Postman Bear Postcard (Front)
Download here -> Postman Bear Postcard (Back)
In the classroom
Download here -> Postman Bear Postcard A4 x 4 (Front)
Download here -> Postman Bear Postcard A4 x 4 (Back)
PLEASE NOTE: This postcard is for you to enjoy – this means it can not be changed, be used for commercial use, and we ask that you include the copyright line if you use the image on its own.
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Axel joined The Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society after reading about us in The Guardian newspaper back in 2022. I am bowled over that he said yes to helping to make World Postcard Day, and our Twin Cities Postcard Project and 7th Birthday, so special!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Axel!
Dinah
PS. Much like letter writing, postcards can be written on any day, so don’t worry if you miss World Postcard Day on 1st October because the postcard, and photocopiable A4 sheet for schools, will be available to download until the end of year. Please feel free to use the resources to write a postcard or two for yourself, or organise some postcard writing with your class if you’re a teacher, on whichever day you have available.
Click HERE to find out more about World Postcard Day.
Postman Bear postcards will be available as part of the Twin Cities Postcard Project – Celebrating our 7th Birthday in the Covered Market in Oxford, on 26th October between 2-6pm.
How wonderful! ❤️🤗
Joined!
I have been writing my daughter a postcard twice a week for years. I send cards to random friends. I don’t always have much to say, but everyone loves to get a handwritten card or letter in the mail. (We say “mail” in the States, but “post” works too.)
I love this but wonder how best to print the postcard. Do you have any recommendation? Is it possible to use a commercial service such as Moonpig?
I used Vistaprint. But I’m sure there are other printers available, maybe even local ones. I just had to be careful to move the back image up a little bit to include the copyright information. Hope that helps, Dinah
Thank you, from Australia- They are just gorgeous! : )
I printed it on a matt photo paper and had bought some sticky 4 x 6 postcard backs that have a place for the address and area to write. It takes a little practice to line things just right, but it allows me to use photos (or images in this case) for a postcard.
Hi Ray, Just to highlight the publishers asked that the Axel Scheffler Postman Bear postcards be printed with the official backs because they contain the copyright information and “not for sale” notice, but I’m not sure how I can police the whole world on that. The sticky postcard backs in general sound useful though. Best wishes, Dinah