US #5636
2021 Pink and Red Monster – Message Monsters
- One of four stamps picturing playful monsters
- Pane of 20 included dozens of stickers to personalize the stamps with hearts, hats, voice balloons, flowers, and thought bubbles.
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Message Monsters
Value: 58¢ First Class Ma... more
US #5636
2021 Pink and Red Monster – Message Monsters
- One of four stamps picturing playful monsters
- Pane of 20 included dozens of stickers to personalize the stamps with hearts, hats, voice balloons, flowers, and thought bubbles.
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Set: Message Monsters
Value: 58¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue: September 24, 2021
First Day City: Topeka, Kansas
Quantity Issued: 18,000,000
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Panes of 20
Tagging: Phosphor, Block Tag
Why the stamp was issued: To encourage people (especially children) to have fun with sending mail or even collecting stamps.
About the stamp designs: Includes an illustration of a pink and red monster by Elise Gravel.
Special design details: The pane of 20 included dozens of stickers in the selvage to personalize the stamps with hearts, hats, voice balloons, flowers, and thought bubble.
First Day City: The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held in Redbud Park in Topeka, Kansas.
About the Message Monsters set: Includes four stamps picturing illustrations of different monsters by Elise Gravel. Selvage includes lots of stickers to accessorize the monsters and make sending mail a more interactive experience. It was also hoped that these designs would help get children more interested in stamps and sending mail.
History the stamp represents: In 2021, the USPS released a set of four Message Monsters stamps to help spark an interest in young people. To do so, USPS art director Antonio Alcalá collaborated with noted children’s author and illustrator Elise Gravel.
Elise Gravel was born in 1977 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to writer Francois Gravel and Murielle Grégoire. Gravel studied graphic design in school, but later became interested in illustrating books.
When Gravel began writing and illustrating children’s literature, she included lots of zany characters with outlandish designs. This style was immediately beloved by child readers everywhere. She went on to publish more than 30 books in over 12 languages. In 2012, Gravel was recognized for her work with the Governor General’s Award for Children’s Illustration.
According to her website, Gravel “Has a passion for entertaining children with funny and endearing characters. She wants children to enjoy the world and explore it – but learn something along the way.” Considering the USPS’s goal of introducing younger people to stamps, Gravel was the natural choice to collaborate with on the Message Monsters designs.
Less 
