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“STAMP OF APPROVAL: A LETTER, A MYSTERY, AND A WHOLE LOT OF STAMPS”

Stamp of Approval is framed as a letter from Rose to Jackie, recounting an adventure she and the Doctor had at a stamp factory in 1840. The story opts for a reported speech narrative style, which can be tricky to pull off. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite capture Rose’s voice, making it feel somewhat detached rather than like a personal and engaging account of events.

A DEADLY MYSTERY WITH A SILLY TWIST

At its core, the story presents a fairly straightforward mystery—there’s a dead body, a hypnotic alien with an absurd name, and a bizarre case of postage stamps bearing Queen Victoria’s image that compel people to kill each other. It’s a quirky premise, but it never quite delivers on its potential.

A BRIEF AND FORGETTABLE OUTING

With its short length, there’s little time to develop the characters or setting in a meaningful way. The alien antagonist is barely fleshed out, and the resolution feels rushed. While the concept of a stamp-based mind-control plot is amusing in theory, the execution leaves much to be desired.

VERDICT: A SHORT, STAMP-SIZED ADVENTURE

Stamp of Approval is a fleeting and forgettable read. The epistolary format doesn’t add much, and the story itself is too brief to leave a lasting impression. While the central idea is enjoyably odd, it never really stamps itself into memory.

📝5/10

A bit of a history lesson disguised as a story, that's exactly what I was expecting from these short stories for kids and I think it's brilliant. Well, brilliant at that at least.

It makes sense they'd use this framing device for this story, and the ending which makes use of it is fun, but I don't really think the actual story itself works great as a letter, and some of the writing feels just a bit out of character for Rose (mostly just a choice of phrase here and there, but enough to take me out of it a little).

Also the fact they pretty much gloss over the guy who drowned in ink at the start isn't great. Even if they were possessed those workers are going to have some trauma that they did it, it's just a bit of a strange thing to include.