21st May International Tea Day

International Tea Day is observed annually on 21st May according to the United Nations.The concerning resolution was adopted on December 21, 2019 and calls on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to lead the observance of the Day. An International Tea Day has been celebrated on 15th December, since 2005, in tea producing countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Uganda and Tanzania.

I have not written about tea on either of these dates before, so I am writing now in the hope that I will remember to celebrate it in the library next May. I want to celebrate this day because there are so many books to pull off the shelves for a display.

Factual books first:

•Teatime Around the World  by Denise Waissbluth and Chelsea O'Byrne

Let's go on an adventure to discover new cultures and friends through tea! In this fun and lyrical picture book for ages 4-8, you  will learn how tea is enjoyed in Thailand, Japan, Russia, Egypt, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Uruguay, South Sudan, India, and more countries!

• The Story of Tea  by Alex Woolf

• The Tale of Tea  by Shalini Vallepur

 

Let's have a tea party!:

Series such as Fancy Nancy, Angelina Ballerina, Pinkalicious, Mr Putter and Tabby and Madeline all have a tea party book.

• Tea Party Rules  by Ame Dyckman and K.G.Campbell

• The Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi

• Daddy Lion's Tea Party by Mark Sperring and Sarah Warburton

• Sun and Moon Have a Tea Party by Yumi Heo

• The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr

• No Dragons for Tea  by Jean E. Pendziwol and Martine Gourbaldt

• Tea With Rex  by Molly Idle

• Squishy McFluff: Tea with the Queen by Pip Jones and Ella Okstad

• Luli and the Language of Tea by Andrea Wang and Hyewon Yum

•  Phoebe Dupree is Coming to Tea by Linda Ashman and Alea Marley

• Ash Invites Her Friends to Tea by Fu Wenzheng

• Fu Finds His Way by John Rocco

• Chimpanzees for Tea  by Jo Empson

• How the Queen Found the Perfect Cup of Tea by Kate Hosford and Gaby Swiatkowska

• Teatime by Tiffany Stone and Jori van der Linde

While not strictly about tea, but rather the train that brings tea to the outback, they are perfect for this time of year.

• Tea and Sugar Christmas  by Jane Jolly and Robert Ingpen

• The Shop Train  by Josie Wowolla Boyle

Then look for these short novels:

• The Giants' Tea Party  by Vivian French

• Judy Moody and the Right Royal Tea Party by Megan McDonald

• Tea Party Parade  by Nick Sharratt 

• Mr Monkey and the Fairy Tea Party by Linda Chapman

• Maybelle Goes to Tea  by Katie Speck

• Cloud Tea Monkeys  by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham

If you don't care for tea, but are enamoured of teapots, look for these:

21st April Tea Day

”You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
~ C.S. Lewis

There is nothing nicer than a good read and a cup of tea. So celebrating Tea Day is a must. Tea is not something children give a lot of thought to, because very few of them actually drink tea, but so many children's picture books feature tea. At the very minimum they finish with and 'they all had tea'...it is a warm, secure, happy, family feeling to finish with. Think of The Elephant and the Bad Baby at the end where everyone goes back to the baby's home and his mother gives them tea and pancakes. Think of Alfie Gets in First and how after the problem of the locked door is finally solved everybody sits down for a cup of tea. Yes, these books are old but the pattern continues and now there are even stories with tea in the title.

Many years ago when I started teaching I did a lengthy integrated social science unit called 'What's in a cup of tea?' and my Year 5 class and I explored the tea industry, the sugar industry and the milk industry for a whole term. What fun it was and given my knowledge now of children's literature I would have had plenty of good books to add to it. What a shame the current curriculum doesn't allow for such tangents or flights of fancy anymore.

Below are covers of books in our library that feature tea parties, cups of tea or the importance of tea. The Biography of Tea pictured above gives a comprehensive history of tea and its role in many cultures.

9th June Molly Idle

Today while shelving a large number of textless books that we have been using this term as part of a wide-reading contract (if completed the reward is lunch with the principal in the secret garden on the roof), I stopped to peak once again at Molly Idle's beautiful books about Flora and her interactions with a flamingo and a penguin. I wondered when her birthday was so that I could include her in my birthday celebration calendar. I came home to google her and 'lo and behold' Eric from Happy Birthday Author had written about her today because it is her birthday tomorrow. How freaky is that! I will just send you to his website and here you will get all you need, and you will see that Molly Idle has so much on      offer picture-book wise.