Message Monsters Forever Postage Stamps Ready to Bring a Smile to Your Mail

Four monsters on a pane of 20, drawn by Elise Gravel, who writes and illustrates children's books, with Antonio Alcalá as art director. What makes this issue unusual is the selvage: the border around the stamps is loaded with self-adhesive accessories - speech balloons and thought bubbles carrying greetings, hats, crowns, hearts, stars, lopsided daisies - meant to be peeled off and stuck around the stamp on the envelope. It is the only recent U.S. issue designed to be assembled rather than just applied.

So this is a stamp for mail going to a child, or from one. Birthday cards, letters to grandchildren, postcards from camp, the notes teachers send home. The accessories mean a seven-year-old can decorate the envelope without being handed scissors and glue, which is the practical appeal for parents. Nothing about the design is seasonal, so a pane keeps its use year-round. Keep the selvage intact until you use them - that is where the accessories live, and once it is torn off they are gone.