Soup's On Around the World by Denyse Waissbluth illustrated by Chelsea O'Byrne

Delicious and nutritious. Kirkus

Bookseller blurb: Through vibrant illustrations and heartwarming text, Soup's On Around the World invites readers on a flavorful journey of soups across the globe, each with its own unique history and traditions! Every soup tells its own story, revealing fascinating stories such as: The popular Chinese dish, Wonton Soup, is over 1000 years old. In Finland, a unique Christmas dried fruit soup is served as a sweet dessert, topped with whipped cream. Bitter-leaf Soup, a traditional dish from West Africa, was first used to treat illnesses. French Onion Soup was possibly invented by a king!

The cover of this book caught my eye and then to my delight my friend told me there is another book in this series (Taste the World) about tea. Both of these books would be fabulous additions to your school library and especially perfect if you have a multicultural school population or if you school celebrates days such as Harmony Day. And for families here in Australia, it is Winter so that is the perfect time to snuggle up and read a book about soup.

Bookseller blurb: 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, kids will learn how tea is enjoyed in Thailand, Japan, Russia, Egypt, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Uruguay, South Sudan, India, and more countries! Did you know that po cha, the traditional tea in Tibet, is thick and salty like soup? Or that in Iran, tea is served with a rock? (A rock candy, that is!) Or that afternoon tea was dreamed up in England by a duchess who complained of being hungry between lunch and dinner? With vivid poetry, vibrant illustrations, and unique facts about different tea cultures, Teatime Around the World tells the delightful story of a beloved beverage.

Read the Kirkus review. In this video the author talks about creating her book Teatime around the World. Denyse Waissbluth and Chelsea O’Byrne both live in Vancouver, Canada.

A Place called Perfect by Helena Duggan

About halfway through this book I was sure I would give it five stars but then things became a little too tangled and complicated, so I have settled on four stars. This book is fast paced and so I read it all in one day. I would be very happy to recommend this book to readers aged 10+.

The premise that the whole town is controlled taking away the sight of every citizen and then providing them with special glasses that allow them to see, is intriguing. Yes, the glasses do work, the way people view the world through these lenses has been manipulated and so the people see perfection everywhere in the town of Perfect. And the glasses have another even more sinister function. They contain a device that robs everyone of their imagination. Imaginations are stored in glass jars after being collected late at the night. How did everyone become blind? It is all linked to some special tea which is provided to everyone, every day, several times each day. Even the children in school stop for regular 'tea' breaks. The tea is addictive and delicious because it tastes like your personal favourite flavour. 

There is an issue though with these glasses.  They only work when they are kept on your face. No one would be prepared to wear glasses in bed, so every night there is curfew which is designed to stop people hearing any sounds from the other side of the wall. This is where any people have been sent who haven't conformed to the regime imposed by Edward and George Archer. Why have they set up these schemes to manipulate the people in this town? Of course it is all about power and also we learn it is about jealousy. The people in No-Mans-Land are only allowed out at night and they are guarded by thugs called Watchers. They seem to have lost any urge to rebel. 

Violet becomes caught up in all of this because her father is a skilled ophthalmologist. She has moved with her father and mother to Perfect. Her mother very quickly changes into a 'perfect' person baking cakes and joining community events such as a the local book club but right from the start Violet is suspicious of the brothers, of the tea, and of this seemingly perfect town. 

Meanwhile (spoiler alert) the Archer brothers are working on making or growing eyes (you can see them on the cover). They have this very disturbing plan to operate and transplant these 'special' eyes into everyone. Luckily Violet meets Boy - he is an orphan who lives in No-Mans-Land and he is desperate to uncover the evil work by the Archers. It will take courage, teamwork, and determination to stop these evil men. You will be sitting on the edge of your seat because Helena Duggan makes her reader live through every terrifying situation. There were so many times when I was sure Violet and Boy would be captured and punished by the Archers. 

Publisher blurb (Usborne): Violet never wanted to move to Perfect. Who wants to live in a town where everyone has to wear glasses to stop them going blind? And who wants to be neat and tidy and perfectly behaved all the time? But Violet quickly discovers there's something weird going on in the town - she keeps hearing voices, her mam is acting strange and her dad has disappeared. When she meets Boy she realizes that her dad is not the only person to have vanished... and that the mysterious Watchers are guarding a perfectly creepy secret!

A place called Perfect was published in 2017. I picked up my copy for just AUS$3 at a charity book fair. 

This quirky, creepy mystery adventure story is an original debut that should intrigue 9+ readers who like their stories with an offbeat, uneasy atmosphere.  There are plenty of macabre details, particularly to do with eyes, and some fast-paced action but the plot does become rather over-complicated by the end and readers will need to concentrate.  This book provides plenty of dark humour amidst the action and some key messages about not following the crowd, being brave, looking beneath the surface and resisting controlling bullies.  Books for Keeps

I have now discovered there are three books in the series:

This book opens with a terrific map:

Helena Duggan is a children's author, graphic designer and illustrator from Kilkenny, a medieval town in Ireland, which was the inspiration for A Place Called Perfect. She writes in a treehouse built by her husband Robbie and his brother in the bottom of their garden.

Companion books:

Eventown

Masterminds

Simon Sort of Says

The Jolly Postman series by Allan Ahlberg

 

I felt moved to re-read my set of Jolly Postman books after hearing that Allan Ahlberg died on the 28th July - just last week. Imagine my surprise when I opened the original book - The Jolly Postman - only to discover it was signed by Allan himself!  I have absolutely no idea how or where this happened - but yay!

The Jolly Postman delivers letters and cards to the inhabitants of fairy land – and drinks a lot of cups of tea. The book includes six letters in envelopes to pull out and read and on every page are lots of little details to spot.

Allan had briefly worked as a postman but the idea for the book actually came from noticing how much his two-year-old daughter liked playing with the post. She loved to take letters out of envelopes and put them back in again. The Ahlbergs were determined that the envelopes and letters would be part of the book. We may take it for granted now that books can be interactive and playful but it took five years to make The Jolly Postman, partly because the Ahlbergs were insistent that all the details would work perfectly.

The Jolly Postman (1986)

"A Jolly Postman delivers letters to several famous fairy-tale characters such as the Big Bad Wolf, Cinderella, and the Three Bears. Twelve of the pages have been made into six envelopes and contain eight letters and cards. Each letter may be removed from its envelope page and read separately."

The Jolly Christmas Postman (1991)

"A Jolly Postman delivers Christmas cards to several famous fairy-tale characters such as the Big Bad Wolf, Cinderella, and the Three Bears. Each card may be removed from its envelope page and read separately. With 6 letters in pockets".

The Jolly Pocket Postman (1995)

"Join the jolly postman with his mailbag of delightful deliveries for Dorothy from Oz, Alice from Wonderland, and other favorite storybook characters."

These books are a perfect demonstration of the importance of familiarity with nursery rhymes and fairy tales and later classic stories like The Wizard of Oz.  I can see someone developing a thesis around all the myriad of references found in the text and in the tiny corners of the illustrations in each of these books. Look at this picture above - can you spy Rapunzel; Dick Wittington; Jack and the Beanstalk; the little crooked man; and others I cannot identify - can you?

On each page, there are different letters to read and each offers a fun insight into classic fairy tale characters. The letters also offer a chance of the reader to predict. “What will this letter to the Giant say? Who could it possibly be from?” This story is perfect for a bedtime or story-time reading with parent and child.  The story is a clever rhyming narrative of the Jolly Postman’s travels through fairytale land delivering letters to various fairytale creatures. ...  The letters are also written in a variety of styles: some are formal, such as the letter from the law office; others are informal, and misspelled, like the letter from Goldilocks. Each voice heard in the letters is distinct and unique.

One aspect of the three books that always fascinated and delighted me were the stamps and of course the creative addresses on each envelope.

Image adapted from Kathy apRoberts

Pick up your copies of the books and look for these stamps: Old King Cole; the Loch Ness Monster; Cinderella with her Prince and the glass coach; the Queen of Hearts; the Lion and the Unicorn; Georgie Porgie kissing the girl; the house in the tornado from the Wizard of Oz and even a postage paid stamp from "The Sunny side of the Street".

I also have some favourites among the inclusions inside the envelopes:

The Jolly Postman - Hobgoblin Supplies Ltd advertising page; the official publisher letter from Peter Piper Press and the mini book of Cinderella; and the formal legal letter to Mr Wolf from Meeny, Miny, Mo, & Co Attorneys at Law - here is an extract

"Please understand if this harassment does not cease, we will call in the Official Woodcutter, and - if necessary - all the King's horse and all the King's men."

The Jolly Christmas Postman - my favourite thing is the peep hole or concertina book in the final envelope. I mentioned this very recently. And of course the little jigsaw of Humpty Dumpty is such a terrific surprise.

From The Kids' Book Explorer

On a rainy day you could have hours of fun with these three books - reading all the inclusions and then playing all the games. You might also like to write some letters or postcards and actually post them - not just send an email - to a family member or friend. 

The Humpty Dumpty jigsaw puzzle, the Christmas card to Baby Bear from Goldilocks, 

the fold-out board game to Little Miss Riding Hood from a certain Mr Wolf, and

the Toytown Christmas Annual booklet

Now go back and look at other tiny details. For example look for the tiny old fashioned domestic items such as a vacuum cleaner; telephone; mantle clock; grandfather clock; a radio; the witch eating horrid jam; Cinderella has all her newly opened wedding presents beside her; and on the wall of the bedroom behind the wolf who is disguised as Grandma you will see a painting of Red Riding Hood herself. The postman reading his newspaper - Mirror Mirror; in hospital (in the Jolly Pocket Postman) a cat is visiting with a soccer ball and on the next page we see him scoring a goal - Allan Ahlberg loved soccer (football). Did you notice the Gingerbread Boy lives in a house made from a biscuit tin? There is a moving van called the 3 Little Pigs Ltd. There is just so much to discover and to TALK about in these glorious books. I do hope you can find all three to share with your child. 

Don't you love getting mail? Letters are so fun to open up and read, and here is this book, 

The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters, full of letters to people like the Three Bears, and Goldilocks, and the Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk. Cool, huh? I wonder who is writing to them? What kind of letters to fairy tale characters get, anyway? Hmmm. The only way to find out is to ask your parents for a trip to the library or bookstore to find this book. Then find a squishy, comfy chair, and get reading (or, have someone read it to you). Bugs and Bunnies

Image Source The Postal Museum on Facebook

Image source: The Federation of Children's Book Groups Facebook post

Ash invites her friends to tea by Fu Wenzheng

Grandpa takes Ash in to the tea plantation and shows her how to pick the best leaves. They put the leaves in the shade to soften and then they dry them with hot air. Finally hot water is added and we have a drink called tea. The cheeky monkey, the panda, the wild boar and finally a dragon arrive to try this magical drink. We watch the calming effects as storm abates, the friends fall asleep and the dragon flies away. 

This is a quirky little story about how tea is made. My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything talked about International Tea Day back in 2022 and I remembered seeing the cover of this book. Now she has added it to her school library collection. Here is a 2018 interview with Fu Wenzheng.

AFTER you read Ash invites her friends to tea you can see the pages on Storybox Library and listen to the reading by Gabrielle Wang. But please read and explore the print book first. Oh and after you read this book your young reading companion could watch you prepare a cup of tea with tea leaves perhaps not a tea bag in a lovely old family tea pot!

About the author/illustrator: Fu Wenzheng grew up in a temple in China where her grandfather was a monk. The experiences she had as a child have greatly influenced her writing and style of illustration. Traditional Chinese culture and philosophy are at the focal point of all her work. Fu Wenzheng did her undergraduate studies at Fujian University’s College of Fine Art and then went on to study Illustration at Zhejiang Science and Engineering University’s School of Art and Design.

Just as an aside the birds in this book have arms and hands! You could perhaps compare these illustrations with the 2024 short listed book That Bird has Arms by Kate and Jol Temple. 

I have talked here about a few books that feature tea drinking or tea time or tea making or even teapots.

Teatime

Tea and Sugar Christmas

How the Queen found the perfect cup of tea

Luli and the Language of Tea

Here is the first book about Ash:

Teatime by Tiffany Stone illustrated by Jori van der Linde

 

New authors should not attempt to write in rhyme - so often this can be simply dreadful - but when it is done well it can make a story sing. In this book the rhyme feels like a perfect little poem. It also matches the lightness of the two little, slightly unconventional, fairy friends.

Here is part of the rhyme:

"Please join me in a cup of tea.

There's lots of room, as you can see.

It's not too hot and nice and deep.

So climb right in or take a leap - right off the diving board.

The milky depth lie unexplored."

I picked out this book in a library for three reasons: I like the cover; it is a Canadian picture book and the name of the illustrator intrigued me. I now discover Jori van der Linde is from Vancouver while the author Tiffany Stone is from Maple Ridge in British Columbia.

If you have young reading fans who like to read books about fairies this one is well worth finding because the fairies (as I ready said) are quite unconventional and one is a boy and one is a girl! The story feels a little reminiscent of The Borrowers.  If you want to find more books about tea and tea drinking take a look at this post from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything.

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

A warming and gentle celebration of connection. Kirkus

This book begins on the first page (the one before the title page) where we see parents heading into an English as a Second Language class while the young children head into a room set up for free childcare. None of these children who come from around the world can speak English. 

Blurb: Luli removes her teapot, thermos and teacups from her bag and calls out ‘Chá!’ in her native Chinese. One by one, her classmates pipe up in recognition: in Russian, Hindi, Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and Swahili. Tea is a tasty language they all know well, and it gives them a chance to share and enjoy each other’s company. When all the tea is gone and it’s time for dessert, Luli gets to use her favourite English word: cookie! After that, the playroom isn’t so quiet.

Luli is a problem solver. When she attended the first time and played alone, she had an idea to bring tea to class to share. That idea becomes the spark that brings the children together. Another bonus in this story is how the children take the initiative to share when Luli runs out of tea for herself. Worlds of words

Late the other night I watched a television program about the rituals and treats of afternoon tea. Part of the program explored Sketch near Bond Street.  The person in charge of the tea menu explained some 'mind boggling' things about the tea they serve. There are twenty-nine teas of offer and two can be matched to each course of the afternoon tea such as Vanilla black tea; Royal Flush; and an Oolong tea from Taiwan - one the lost expensive in the world.  Even the way he poured the tea was quite crazy. I just loved the serendipity of this and the way it links with this book. 

This would be the perfect book to share with a young class especially one with children who come from different places around the world. Luli and the Language of Tea would also be the most perfect book to use for Harmony Day which is celebrated in Australia on 21st March each year. 

The end papers in this book contain beautiful tea cups from around the world. You can see art from inside this book on Seven Impossible Things. Here is an interview with Andrea and Hyewon. I found a brief set of questions to use with this book on the US publisher web site. 

Image Source: Maria Marshall The Picture Book Buzz

Andrea Wang is the author of Watercress winner of the Caldecott Medal in 2022. Take a look at this post from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything where you find more books about the topic of tea. 

My own favourite book (for older students) on this topic is Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet which I do hope you can find in your school or local library.

How the Queen found the perfect cup of tea by Kate Hosford illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska

It is fun to use picture books as a springboard into other topics and this book How the Queen found the perfect cup of tea raises lots of possibilities.  You could trace the Queen's journey to Japan, India and finally Turkey. Her hot air balloon is a very fine way to travel.  With the help of a new young friend she samples and participates in the making of three different versions of tea and discovers that yes indeed each is delicious but there is another ingredient needed to make the perfect cup of tea - the company of good friends.  You could research types of tea, ways of making making tea and with older children - the customs involved with drinking tea for example look for the book Listen to the Wind.

For students of visual literacy you might compare the final spread in How the Queen found the perfect cup of tea classic images of the Mad Hatters tea party from Alice in Wonderland. This one is by Helen Oxenbury.

Here is the Kirkus review. Kate Hosford has a web site where you can see some of her other titles.  In our school library we have a very special book illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska - My name is Yoon.  For older children I would pair this book with Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet and with younger children the classic The Tiger who came to Tea. My friend at Kinderbooks talks about tea books here.  You can read an interview with the author.  If you want to explore some other funny books about Queen Victoria look for Queen Victoria's Underpants by Jackie French.

Brimsby's hats by Andrew Prahin

I picked up this little picture book Brimsby's Hats yesterday because ...

• I loved the cover - the title is silver and embossed - you have to look closely to read it and it is so tactile
• Later this year we will once again celebrate National Simultaneous Storytime and this year it is a simple book about hats (I got this hat) so I have begun to make a collection of books on this theme.  We will read Brimsby's hats in the lead up to NSS
• It has been snowing in the Northern hemisphere and we are seeing new pictures here in Australia of huge piles of snow in places like NYC.  Meanwhile here in Australia, especially in Sydney, we seem to be lurching from one heat wave to the next so the idea of reading a cool book held great appeal

Brimsby is a hat maker.  My aunt was a hat maker or milliner. Brimsby makes hats for customers who live all over the world.  His other delight is spending time drinking tea and chatting with his good friend.  One day his friend ( we never discover his name) leaves.  Brimsby is alone and everything becomes very quiet. On this page each window shows the same scene as the trees change through the seasons until the land is white and the trees are bare.

Now we come to the part of this book that I love.  Brimsby does not sit around feeling sorry for himself he sets off into the snowy landscape to find a new friend or two.  Naturally he wears his favourite hat.  He finds some birds but they are preoccupied with other concerns and ignore his gesture of friendship.  Once again Brimsby impressed me.  He goes home and works on a wonderful solution to this problem with the birds.

It’s a well-crated little book full of unique charm. A example of old and new working together perfectly.