September 29 – Read a New Book Month

About the Holiday

Even though we’re saying goodbye to Read a New Book Month, families don’t have to stop seeking out new books at their local bookstore or library. In fact, fall, with its lead-in to the holidays is one of the busiest times of the year for publishers as they release wonderful books that share traditions and take readers through the winter in thoughtful, funny, and always surprising ways. Maybe that’s why December is also often recognized as Read a New Book Month! Really, there’s never a time when you don’t want to celebrate new books—like today’s!

Thank you to Greystone Books for sending me this book for review!

Bompa’s Intertidal Adventure (Nature Adventures with Bompa 2)

Written by David Suzuki and Sarika Cullis-Suzuki with Tanya Lloyd Kyi | Illustrated by Qin Leng

On the last day of summer, twins Nakina and Kaoru wait on the beach for Bompa, their grandfather, and one of his adventures. As soon as Bompa rides up on his new e-bike, Kaoru takes the lead to the intertidal zone, where low tide promises to reveal the secrets on “the bottom of the ocean.” He’s hoping to find some interesting animals to study with their scientist grandpa and extend summer, if only for just a bit. Kaoru and Nakina don’t have to wait long. Bompa is looking at a snail shell that suddenly “scuttles away.” The children hurry over to watch the hermit crab as Bompa explains about adaptations. The twins imagine themselves as hermit crabs, camping out or even carrying “fancy research labs inside [their] shells.”

Text copyright © 2026 by David Suzuki and Sarika Cullis-Suzuki with Tanya Lloyd Kyi. Illustration copyright © 2026 by Qin Leng. Published by Greystone Books copyright © 2026.

Soon they come to a tidal pool where they find limpets and sculpins and a very loud plainfin midshipman under a rock, protecting its eggs. They discover different types of seaweed, and Bompa explains how seaweeds have adapted to stay rooted to the ocean floor so they aren’t swept away by the current. Bompa talks about how many of the creatures in the intertidal zone must adapt to the cyclical wet and dry conditions. Nakina wishes they could breath underwater to “explore a kelp forest.”

When Kaoru finds a discarded bottle in a tide pool, Bompa grows sad, thinking of what an amazing place the intertidal zone is. Nakina takes his hand and asks why. Bompa explains how “humans are changing the climate, and . . . putting more and more buildings along the shoreline and . . . polluting the oceans. Nakina worries that the animals won’t be able to adapt fast enough to the changes, and says, “‘We all need to learn how important [the intertidal zone] is.”

Listening, while watching “tiny crabs scuttle back and forth,” Kaoru adds that maybe it is people who “need to adapt.” He suggests that when they get back to school, he and Nakina can talk to their friends about the intertidal zone and join the school’s annual shoreline cleanup. The two children imagine all the ways they can help as they grow older. They can’t wait to get back home to share with their classmates everything they’ve seen and that Bompa has taught them.

Back matter includes a list of ways people can protect the intertidal zone, a Shoreline Search and Find puzzle using illustrations from the story, Intertidal Facts, and a close-up look and fact about some creatures in the story.

David Suzuki, Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, and Tanya Lloyd Kyi’s story reveals the wonder of intertidal zones, which are home to intriguing creatures who have adapted to take advantage of the best of their sometimes wet, sometimes dry home. As Kaoru and Nakina marvel over what they find, readers will share their excitement and interest. Bompa’s clear explanations of certain animals’ adaptations and behaviors will spur children at home and in the classroom to learn more about this special ocean zone and how they can protect it.

Qin Leng’s tranquil ink and watercolor illustrations beautifully covey the features of the intertidal zone along the edge of the ocean’s reach. Scattered driftwood, sea birds, crabs, shells, seaweed, and hidden creatures create a lovely true-to-life landscape for the children’s and Bompa’s explorations. As if peering into a mysterious treasure box, readers will be fascinated to discover what lies within the shallow tidal pools, under rocks, and hiding in crevices. Playful scenes at the beach as well as images of Kaoru and Nakina growing into advocates for ocean conservation give children an idea of how people can use all types of talents to help protect these vulnerable natural areas.

Bompa’s Intertidal Adventure is a gentle story with a profound impact, reminding readers of all ages of the uniqueness and importance of intertidal zones and the role they can play in preserving them. The book can spark lessons or projects for families, classrooms, and child-focused organizations and is a must for public and school libraries.

Ages 4 – 8

Greystone Kids, 2026 | ISBN 978-1778402531

About the Authors

David Suzuki is an internationally renowned scientist and environmentalist who has made it his life’s work to help humanity understand, appreciate, respect, and protect nature. He is the co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation and the author of more than fifty books. He lives in Vancouver, BC, and is a father of five and grandfather to ten, including twins Nakina and Kaoru. Connect with him and the David Suzuki Foundation at davidsuzuki.org.

Sarika Cullis-Suzuki is co-host of The Nature of Things on CBC. Her life’s work is dedicated to science, communication, and oceans. Her research in marine biology has taken her from the high seas, to remote tropical islands, to the coastal intertidal zones of British Columbia for her PhD, where she studied the singing fish, the plainfin midshipman. Visit her at sarikacullissuzuki.com.

Tanya Lloyd Kyi is the award-winning author of more than thirty books for children and young adults. Tanya lives in Vancouver, BC, where she teaches for the University of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing. Visit her at tanyalloydkyi.com.

About the Illustrator

Qin Leng is a visual development artist and an illustrator and author of children’s books. Throughout her career, she has illustrated picture books, magazines, and book covers with publishers around the world. She lives in Toronto with her husband and her son. You can visit her at qinillustrations.com.

You can purchase Bompa’s Intertidal Adventure from these booksellers

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Picture Book Review

September 23 – The Autumn Equinox

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, fall has arrived! If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, welcome to spring! Today, the hours of daytime and nighttime will be equal, ushering in a changing of the seasons. For some that means cooler weather, shorter days, and a slowing down in nature which leads to our being able to enjoy the brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges in the leaves of certain trees, cozy recipes, and fun fall holidays. For others nature is just awakening, with all the beauty that warm weather and new growth bring. Wherever you live, enjoy the activities and events ushered in with the change in season!

Thank you to Greystone Kids for sending me this book for review!

Henri and the Secret Letters

By Fanny Ducassé | Translated by David Warriner

Even before Henri the Badger awoke on the first day of fall (his favorite season), Mr. Mulot, the mail owl, slipped a mysterious letter under Henri’s door. Henri notices it immediately while heading to the kitchen to make cinnamon cookies—”one of his favorite fall treats.” The envelope was sealed with a heart, and the short letter read, “Dear Henri, I love the twinkle in your eye. Signed: A secret sender.” Henri was puzzled. He usually kept himself to himself. He couldn’t imagine who his secret admirer was.

Text and illustration copyright © 2026 by Fanny Ducassé. Translation copyright © 2026 by David Warriner. Published by Greystone Kids copyright © 2026.

After breakfast, he put on his “favorite fall outfit and dug out his cookbook of cozy recipes” before taking a leisurely walk in the woods among the tiny creatures and brilliantly colored foliage. He pondered: “was there really a twinkle in his eye?” Later, Henri was working in his kitchen, when Mimi the skunk knocked on his door. Henri never had many visitors, but he had just made pumpkin cake and hot chocolate, and the two sat in front of the wood stove savoring this special treat. Henri considered: “could she be the secret sender?” They were so different.

When another letter appeared the next day, Henri dismissed his thought about Mimi with a pang of disappointment, because this time the sender said they shared so much in common. Still, the sender included a recipe for potato leek soup and invited Henri to write back with instructions on where to leave his reply as their address was a secret. Henri’s “heart fluttered just a bit” as he drew a picture and enclosed a recipe for creamy mushroom pasta.

The annual Fall Festival was to be held the next week, and everyone was preparing for the big day. “But Henri’s head was in the clouds,” because he’d already received a reply—the most tantalizing letter yet. It relayed an invitation to meet at the Fall Festival and offered a clue as to how Henri could recognize his pen pal. A recipe for Vanilla Pudding was included. On the day of the festival, the animals—all sporting costumes—met in the woods where a long table was set with scrumptious treats. Catching a whiff of the clue he’d been given, Henri soon discovered the secret sender. Happily surprised, Henri now considered everything he and his friend had in common. When it came time to make a wish, Henri wished for “many more letters . . . and delicious dishes to savor” with his new friend.

Get ready to snuggle in for fall and winter with Fanny Ducassé’s heartwarming story of wonder, comfort, and friendship, delightfully blended with cozy recipes that children will love to make with a little help or supervision. In her dulcet storytelling, Ducassé perfectly captures the comforts of solitude, the giddiness of seeing yourself anew through another’s eyes, and the flowering of self-confidence, while gently cautioning against preconceived notions.

Ducassé’s markers-and-pen illustrations of Henri’s woodland home, burnished in spicy golds, forest greens, and molasses browns (not fully represented in the images above) convey Henri’s contemplative nature in dreamy scenes of his pondering the first secret letter, getting dressed, and wandering through the woods in images that play with time and his distracted thoughts. With the introduction of Mimi and Henri’s proclamation that they are “very different,” astute readers may begin noticing the ways they are similar well before Henri does. Ducassé’s immersive illustrations show a beautiful cohesion of colors, textures, and shapes across her pages that allow readers to float along with Henri in his preoccupation, while also appreciating her small details that elevate her homey scenes.

David Warriner’s lovely English translation from Ducassé’s original French encapsulates the cadence of Henri’s solitary musings and gentle jolts of possibility he experiences with each new letter.

Welcoming, whimsical, and thoroughly enchanting, Henri and the Secret Letters will captivate readers of all ages and keep them coming back to try each of the six delicious recipes included. The book would make a much-appreciated gift and a standout addition to any home or library collection.

Ages 4 – 8+

Greystone Kids, 2026 | ISBN 978-1778403644

About the Author

After getting a degree in modern literature, Fanny Ducassé began studying fashion design and model making at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, where she developed an interest in children’s book illustration. Fanny Ducassé lives in Paris. Henri and the Secret Letters is her first book available in English. Follow her on Instagram.

About the Translator

David Warriner grew up in the UK and escaped to Quebec right after graduating from Oxford. A professional translator for more than two decades, David nurtures a healthy passion for reading and has translated a range of fiction, nonfiction, and children’s fiction titles by French and Québécois authors for Canadian and UK publishers. David translated Super Space Weekend and Super Ocean Weekend, also published by Greystone Kids. Visit him at davidwarriner.com.

Autumn Equinox Activity

celebrate-pciture-books-picture-book-review-fall-leaves-matching-puzzle

Falling for Fall Matching Puzzle

These kids are having fun in the leaves. Can you find the matching leaves in this printable Falling for Fall Puzzle?

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Picture Book Review

June 1 – National Great Outdoors Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Warm weather + the kids home from school = the perfect recipe for getting outside to play, garden, hike, swim, explore and even bring the outside in! Nature’s bounty provides so many opportunities for trying something new, and that’s what National Great Outdoors Month is all about! Today’s book supplies plenty of ideas from contemplation to crafts to cooking not only for summer but to make you look forward to all the seasons of the year!

Thank you to Greystone Kids for sending me a copy of this book for review!

The Nature of Play: A Handbook of Nature-Based Activities for All Seasons

Written by Delfina Aguilar and Clare Aitken | Illustrated by Sabrina Arnault

If you have a nature-loving family excited for the summer season to begin or you’d simply like to learn how to engage more with everything the outdoors has to offer, The Nature of Play provides an exciting guide to discovery all year round. Each chapter opens with four easy activities—Eat, Do, Look, and Read—to jumpstart the particular season. While prompting participation, these short paragraphs also contain eye-opening facts. For instance, do you know where the word “pumpkin” was first named in English?

Text copyright © 2026 by Delfina Aguilar and Clare Aitken. Illustration copyright © 2026 by Sabrina Arnault. Courtesy of Greystone Kids.

These kinds of fascinating asides as well as in-depth explorations of the topics presented elevate The Nature of Play from a simple activity book to a resource you’ll find yourself returning to again and again. As part of each activity’s description, Delfina Aguilar and Clare Aitken define its historical and global significance in their “From the Archives” paragraphs, while in “Dear Grown-Ups” they reveal their long-term benefits. For example, the seemingly casual pastime of stone skipping “exists across cultures and throughout eons—[and is] probably one of the oldest games on Earth.” And it’s benefits? Stone skipping is almost a full day of school on its own, incorporating motor skills, tenacity, physics, and more!

Delfina Aguilar and Clare Aitken make sure that kids and adults get plenty of fresh air with more outdoor activities matched to the season, including making small rafts to float on rivers or ponds, building an outdoor den, and navigating like old-time explorers. Aguilar and Aitken don’t forget about indoor time, either. They’ve included lots of games that are perfect for car, plane, or train travel as well as games for rainy or snowy days. Spy and sleuth fans will love learning how to outwit the opposition with an ingenious secret code.

Crafters, budding scientists, and plant aficionados can create and learn to their heart’s content with the abundance of ideas here, such as making petal paper, pinhole cameras, terrariums, ice ornaments, and so many more useful and whimsical objects. Each section also includes scrumptious recipes that take advantage of seasonal ingredients. Other captivating elements are interviews with John Collins (aka the Paper Airplane Guy), natural navigator Tristan Gooley, theoretical astrophysicist Dr. Anna Lisa Varri, and spy Anna Gram as well as poems by Billy Collins, Carl Sandburg, William Carlos Williams, and Robert Louis Stevenson that open each chapter.

Sabrina Arnault’s charming ink-and-watercolor illustrations, rendered in warm earth tones, set a mellow, laid-back air to each page, echoing the simple pleasures of the text. Each chapter opens with a stunning full-spread scene that welcomes the new season, Pencil sketches clearly demonstrate step-by-step instructions for making the crafts.

A gorgeous book created with much thought and love, The Nature of Play: A Handbook of Nature-Based Activities for All Seasons is a companionable resource the whole family will use. The book makes a joyful gift and is a must for all library collections and home bookshelves.

Ages 6 and up

Greystone Kids, 2026 | ISBN 978-1778403088

Delfina Aguilar is the founder of Fanny & Alexander, a brand devoted to analogue toys and books that invite children—and the adults who love them—to play more thoughtfully, encouraging imagination, curiosity, and screen-free wonder. She is the co-author of The Nature of Play, Hiccup Makes a Leap, and The Acorn Who Hung On.

Clare Aitken is an author of books for children. She is passionate about nature, community and food and has co-written several books including The Nature of Play.

National Great Outdoors Month Activity

Whose Shoes? Maze

There are all sorts of ways to enjoy the great outdoors! These kids all want to do their favorite activity. Can you help match them to the shoes they’ll need in this printable Whose Shoes? Maze?

You can purchase The Nature of Play: A Handbook of Nature-Based Activities for All Seasons from these booksellers

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Picture Book Review

April 22 – Earth Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

First celebrated 56 years ago, Earth Day is the world’s largest civic-focused event. The initiative began on April 22, 1970, when 20 million Americans (10% of the population) demonstrated against the industrialization, pollution, and pesticides that were damaging people and the environment. In response, in July of 1970, Republican President Nixon and the US Congress created the Environmental Protections Agency and enacted laws such as the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act among others.

This year’s theme is “Our Power, Our Planet.” From Saturday, April 18 to Earth Day on the 22nd and beyond, Earth Day and Earth Month will organize communities and individuals to take part in community cleanups, teach-ins, peaceful demonstrations, tree planting, voter registration, town hall meetings, community organizing and more. Every action strengthens the movement and what we can accomplish. To learn how you can participate or access resources in your area, visit the official Earth Day website.

Thanks to Greystone Books for sending me a copy of this book for review!

Fiddlehead Forest: Little Habitats 2

By Jana Curll

After a lightning storm, Fern and her fronds—Millipede, Slug, Moth, Mushroom, and the Lichens—discover a tree that’s fallen and can’t get up. Mushroom suggests the tree become a log, but the unhappy tree wants to return to its days of glory, of being “tall, strong, and useful—important!” Fern “guaran-trees” she will make it happen.

Tiny Millipede is first to volunteer his talents. It’ll be a cinch, he thinks. All he has to do is eat and eat and eat and molt and molt and molt until he’s grown enough segments and legs to push the tree back into position. It turns out, though, there’s only so much one millipede can eat before getting “in-dig-estion,” so Fern concocts another, kinda crazy plan involving Moth, dangerous animals, and “geome-TREE” (Beard Lichen thinks it’s “more like insani-TREE”). When that doesn’t fly, Fern enlists Slug in an even more convoluted idea that any slime lover could get behind. Unfortunately, it’s a no-goo too.

With the help of the Lichens’ and Mushroom’s insight, Tree accepts its fate and vows to “do my best with where I am now.” As night falls the friends stay close, keeping Log company. In the morning Fern has yet one more idea, but this one isn’t zany or complex. She invites everyone to stay, hang out, and just do their thing. “FERN-ally” Log discovers its new role—one in which it is long, strong, and useful—important!

In addition to the story, each chapter includes a two-page spread of fascinating facts about millipedes, moths, slugs, lichens, fungi, ferns, and nurse logs that describe their importance to Earth’s ecosystems.

Equal parts hilarious and educational, Jana Curll’s Fiddlehead Forest is a punsters paradise, where kids will be giggling so often they may not even realize how much they’re learning. Curll’s mix of witty banter, caring friendship, and scientific facts, all presented in her bright and adorable graphic novel format, will delight kids. Fiddlehead Forest has plenty of repeat readability, applications for classrooms and homeschoolers, and appeal for any library collection.

Ages 6 – 9

Greystone Books, 2026 | ISBN 978-1778401046

About the Author

Jana Curll is a children’s illustrator based on the rainy west coast of Canada and is grateful to live on the traditional lands of the shíshálh Nation with her family. She is inspired by the creatures and environment of the local rainforests and the ocean and spends her spare time wandering through winding trails and along rocky beaches. She likes doodling funny maps and sipping strong coffee while her large cat sleeps on her lap. She’s also the author-illustrator of Barnacle Bay, the first book in the Little Habitats series also published by Greystone Kids. Visit her at janacurrl.com.

Earth Day Activity

How Old Is This Tree?

In this activity children learn what the rings on a cross section of a tree trunk mean and how to count them to determine the age of a tree is and discover events from its past.

How Old Is This Tree? Discussion Sheet | How Old Is This Tree? Worksheet

You can purchase Fiddlehead Forest (Little Habitats, 2) from these booksellers

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Picture Book Review

March 23 – National Gardening, Nature, and Ecology Books Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Established by The Children’s Book Council in the early 2000s, Gardening, Nature, and Ecology Books Month invites everyone to explore gardening and the wonders of the natural world through reading about these topics through books of all kinds. With their combination of compelling storytelling and beautiful illustrations, picture books are especially adept at revealing the beauty of the environment, the intricate connections of ecology, and the rewards of gardening. This month-long holiday encourages people to not only read about the environment but to get involved in the type of stewardship that will help create a greener and more sustainable world. Today’s book offers a beautiful example!

Thank you to Greystone Books and Deborah Sloan for sending me a copy of this book for review!

Aya Has Never Seen a Bear

Written by Gerelchimeg Blackcrane | Illustrated by Jiu’er | Translated by Paul Qiao | Adapted by Helen Mixter

As readers enter the story they get a bird’s-eye view of Aya and her grandma and grandpa’s camp. Aya and her family are Oroqen, an ethnic group of hunters who live in the forests and mountains of Greater and Lesser Khingan, in northern China. Grandma is tending the fire outside their curonko, the tent where Aya still sleeps, while their dogs wait patiently and their horses graze nearby. Grandpa has just returned with breakfast and plans for the day.

At last, Aya will have a chance to view bears in the woods. She has seen many other animals, but never a bear. Aya rides her horse slowly and quietly through the autumn woods as Grandpa has taught her. Aya spies various animals, and deeper in the woods the shadow of an eagle owl sends the two riders hurrying on to the wetlands. When Aya and her grandpa come to the river valley, they hide behind bushes on the riverbank, remaining completely still as they watch for bears in the pine woods on the other side. There they see an abandoned mattress surrounded by garbage. When a mother bear and three cubs come into sight, Aya holds her breath, knowing “in the northern forest, bears are unbeatable. They are pure power.” The bears frolic and snooze on the mattress. Finally, Grandpa whistles, and they scurry away.

Grandpa and Aya then burn the mattress and other trash to dissuade the bears from interacting with humans “This is how the Oroqen share the forest with bears. Respect them, be in awe of them, and keep away from them.” When the fire is completely out, they head home, picking berries along the way. Winter, with its deep blanket of snow, will come soon enough. Then Aya will dream about the bears while they hibernate until spring.

Back matter provides more information about the Oroqen and their traditions.

Gerelchimeg Blackcrane’s story, beautifully translated by Paul Qiao, flows with the gentle rhythms of a mountain stream, carrying readers along on Aya’s and her grandfather’s trip to view bears in the wild. Through their actions, Aya and her grandpa demonstrate how humans can live in harmony with nature, respecting its autonomy while also enjoying and using its gifts—guiding principles of ecology. Lovely passages of lyrical description dazzle, drawing readers into the lives not only of Aya’s family but of the plants and animals of the forest and the patterns of the changing season.

Jiu’er’s rich illustrations, rendered in mineral pigments, glow with the woodland hues of autumn. Panoramic views of the mountains and river valley are breathtaking, and each page offers a plethora of details that will delight children. They may be especially interested in Grandpa’s hat that helps him and Aya remain camouflaged. Readers will be awed by the image of the eagle owl and the nearly two-page spread of the bears napping together.

A wondrous, quietly affecting story of family and peaceful coexistence with nature, Aya Has Never Seen a Bear is highly recommended for all library collections and would make an eloquent addition to home bookshelves for tranquil bedtime or story time reading.

Ages 4 – 8

Greystone Kids, 2026 | ISBN 978-1778403064

Gerelchimeg Blackcrane is an award-winning Chinese Mongolian writer of natural literature and a breeder and trainer of native Chinese mastiffs. He has published many novels, including Black Flame, Ghost Dog, Black Dog Haranohai, Wolverine River, Blood Colt, Smoke from Wolf Valley, and Six Seasons of Reindeer. He has collaborated with Jiu’er on picture books, including The Moose of Ewenki, another story of a traditional people of Inner Mongolia, also published by Aldana Libros. His works have been translated into more than ten languages and sold internationally, exported abroad, with a wide readership of children and adults. He currently lives in the Hulunbuir grassland in Inner Mongolia.

Jiu’er is an award-winning sculptor and picture book writer and the first female Chinese artist to be featured in the Honor List of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). She lives in Beijing, China, along with her Mongolian hunting dog, whose name is Huhe.

You can purchase Aya Has Never Seen a Bear from these booksellers

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Picture Book Review

January 14 – National Soup Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

On a frigid January day, there’s nothing more satisfying than a steaming-hot bowl of your favorite soup! Or if you live in a southern climate, a cold soup can be so deliciously refreshing. While there are many tasty prepared soups, in honor of today’s holiday, you may want to try cooking a pot your own. Why not check out recipes from your heritage, geographical location, or even inspired by your favorite book? Bon appétit!

Soup’s On Around the World

Written by Denyse Waissbluth | Illustrated by Chelsea O’Byrne

Denyse Waissbluth and Chelsea O’Bryne invite readers to pull up a chair at a communal table where people from around the globe dip their spoons into bowls of delicious, nourishing soup. Traveling first to Thailand, children meet people living and plying their trade on a river. On open porches—feet dangling above the water—in boats, and even from floating restaurants people enjoy spicy tom yum goong (or tom yam goong) made from shrimp, lemongrass, and herbs and spices, including hot pepper flakes.

From spicy hot soup, Waissbluth pivots to cold with gazpacho, a cool refreshment of blended veggies, vinegar, olive oil, and bread from Spain once eaten by farmers working the fields, but now enjoyed worldwide. She also takes kids to countries where soup is the star of celebrations. In Haiti soup joumou is served every January first to commemorate the country’s Independence Day. Likewise, Mexican families dine on pozole, a meat and vegetable soup that comes in three types: green, white, and red to represent the Mexican flag to celebrate their Independence Day. In addition, those who observe Ramadan often break their fast after sundown with harira soup, a mix of meat, tomatoes, noodles or rice, and spices.

In all, Waissbluth serves up the stories and scrumptious ingredients for 20 delectable soups that we and our global neighbors enjoy for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even dessert! She also reminds us that soup isn’t strictly for meals, either. We all know the healing balm of chicken soup, and soup-making (and eating) have brought communities together for centuries. Soup really is a universal language!

Back matter includes an author’s note as well as recipes for Denyse’s and Chelsea’s favorite soups.

As in her first book in this series, Teatime Around the World, Denyse Waissbluth ferries young readers from country to country to get a taste of a dish that, while universal also bursts with unique flavors that represent diverse cultures; varied, local ingredients; and even history. Her light touch, broad range of countries and cultures, and admiration for the stories or traditions behind each type of soup keep children engaged and will spur them to think more deeply about their own relationship to special traditional family meals.

In her vivid illustrations, Chelsea O’Bryne dishes up charming scenes that drop readers into the midst of homes, picnics, celebrations, cafes, and even mountains where they join in with preparations and enjoyment of a wide variety of soups. Her clever illustrations reward thoughtful viewing with their depth, cultural details, and humor.

A meaningful way to engage young readers in cultural and social studies and of particular interest to children who love to cook and explore different foods and flavors, Soup’s On Around the World is highly recommended for home and library collections.

Ages 4 – 8

Greystone Kids, 2025 | ISBN 978-1778401671

About the Author

Denyse Waissbluth has eaten her way through every Canadian province and territory and more than twenty countries. Her appreciation for how food (like soup!) opens doors to different cultures, and her love of travel has inspired her first two children’s books Teatime Around the World, and now Soup’s On Around the World, both published by Greystone Kids. When she’s not working in the agricultural sector, you can find her exploring new places—both near and far—with her husband and son, enjoying a good book, or sipping a cup of tea. Visit her at denysewaissbluth.com.

About the Illustrator

Chelsea O’Byrne is an artist and teacher living and working in Vancouver, BC. She is the acclaimed illustrator of four books, including Hello, Crow! by Candace Savage (Greystone Kids, 2019), and Teatime Around the World, both published by Greystone Kids (Greystone Kids, 2020). One of Chelsea’s favorite things to eat in her studio is a nice big bowl of home-cooked soup . . . but she is very careful not to spill any on her drawings! You can visit her at chelseaobyrne.ca.

National Soup Month Activity

Soup’s On Around the World Curriculum Guide

This fun and colorful curriculum guide for Soup’s On Around the World provided by Greystone Books is the perfect way for teachers, parents, and other educators and caregivers to engage kids in interacting with their own favorite kinds of soup as well as the memories and stories this hearty meal inspires!

You can purchase Soup’s On Around the World from these booksellers

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Picture Book Review

January 10 – It’s National Hot Tea Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

I must confess that this is one of my favorite holidays. To me there’s nothing better than waking up with a well-steeped cup of tea, writing while a favorite mug brimming with hot tea sweetened with honey sits nearby, enjoying scones with clotted cream and jam and a hot cuppa…well…you get the picture. People have drunk tea since earliest times for its soothing and medicinal properties. Mellower than coffee and available in endless varieties and tastes, hot tea is just the thing for relaxing moments. Today, enjoy your favorite tea or try a new kind! There’s a world of tea to be discovered – as today’s book reveals!

Thank you to Greystone Books for sharing a copy of Teatime Around the World with me for review consideration. All opinions on the book are my own.

Teatime Around the World

Written by Denyse Waissbluth | Illustrated by Chelsea O’Byrne

Two women sit at a table with steaming cups of tea in front of them, talking. “Tea for one. Tea for two.” To the side sits a teapot, its contents still warm. At their feet a child is having a tea party with a bear, jauntily clad in a feathered hat. Cookies, strawberries, and croissants fill out this feast served from a special tea set. “Tea for me. Tea for you.” Tea time continues in Morocco, where a father and child kneel on pillows. The father pours out three cups of mint tea. Made with green tea, mint, and sugar, each cup of tea will have “a slightly different taste.”

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-teatime-around-the-world-sugar

Image copyright Chelsea O’Byrne, 2020, text copyright Denyse Waissbluth, 2020. Courtesy of Greystone Books.

In India a street vendor sells a cup of masala chai to a woman, who’s looking for a peaceful break during her day. The “strong tea and spices like cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom, and pepper…boiled with milk and sweetened” will hit the spot. Hot tea is relaxing, but on a hot day there’s nothing more refreshing than a glass of iced tea. In Thailand, locals and tourists enjoy cha yen, sold from street vendors’ carts. This “strongly brewed sweet tea is poured over ice and drunk from a bag through a straw. Indigenous people in North America soothe fevers, colds, sore muscles, and even sleepless nights with tea made from “berries, plants, and roots.”

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-teatime-around-the-world-russia

Image copyright Chelsea O’Byrne, 2020, text copyright Denyse Waissbluth, 2020. Courtesy of Greystone Books.

Special tea times—like chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony during which matcha, a powdered green tea is served, and afternoon tea, enjoyed with trays of treats world wide—bring people together for comforting respites. You’ll be interested to discover the origins of afternoon tea too! Tea can be served quietly or dramatically, like “teh tarik, or pulled tea…the national drink of Malaysia,” is “poured from up high, or ‘pulled’ between two mugs, to make it frothy.”

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-teatime-around-the-world-poured

Image copyright Chelsea O’Byrne, 2020, text copyright Denyse Waissbluth, 2020. Courtesy of Greystone Books.

Tea is as old as its discovery thousands of years ago in China and as new as bubble tea, created in Taiwan in the 1980s. In Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, yerba maté tea is served in hollowed-out gourds with a “special straw called a bombilla,” while in Jamaica sorrel, made from roselle hibiscus buds, “spiced with ginger, cloves, and sugar,” is perfect for any festive occasion. No matter where you live, what flavors of tea you enjoy, or how you serve it, you can always count on “tea for one. / Tea for two. / Loved by all / the whole world through.”

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-teatime-around-the-world-for-group

Image copyright Chelsea O’Byrne, 2020, text copyright Denyse Waissbluth, 2020. Courtesy of Greystone Books.

With a lilting poem that flows from page to page, Denyse Waissbluth introduces unique flavors, special brew methods, and the comforting feeling a cup of hot or iced tea infuses into a day. The shared experience of tea drinking provides a fascinating touchstone for Waissbluth’s travelogue that takes kids around the world to experience the rituals, recipes, and traditions from each country that make their tea unique. Waissbluth’s conversational style will appeal to kids looking to learn how global cultures are similar to and different from their own.

Chelsea O’Byrne’s lovely matte illustrations take children to cities, the countryside, and the seaside around the globe, revealing not only diverse scenes of how tea is made, served, and enjoyed, but homes, food, and clothing as well. Children will be excited to see such homey and intimate portraits of their peers around the world.

Sure to spur readers to learn more about the countries featured and entice them to try their signature teas, Teatime Around the World would enhance geography, history, and multicultural lessons for school and homeschooling and is highly recommended for school and public library collections.

Ages 3 – 7

Greystone Books, 2020 | ISBN 978-1771646017

You can connect with Denyse Waissbluth on Instagram.

To learn more about Chelsea O’Byrne, her books, and her art, visit her website.

National Hot Tea Month Activity

Tea for You! Word Search

Can you find the names of eighteen delicious teas from around the world in this printable puzzle?

Tea for You! Word Search Puzzle | Tea for You! Word Search Solution

**You can find Teatime Around the World at these booksellers**

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

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You can find Teatime Around the World at these booksellers

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**You can find Teatime Around the World at these booksellers**