17 Writing Friendly Letters and Emails

Start-Up Activity

Read aloud this friendly letter that C. S. Lewis wrote to his goddaughter Lucy Barfield:

My Dear Lucy,

I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say but I shall still be,

Your affectionate Godfather,

C. S. Lewis

Let students know that this is how the writer dedicated his most famous book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, to his goddaughter.

Tell students they will get to try writing friendly letters and emails to the important people in their lives.