May 18 – It’s National Family Month

About the Holiday

Established by KidsPeace, a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping children and families since 1882, National Family Month is observed during the five-week period between Mother’s Day in May and Father’s Day in June. It coincides with the usual end of the school year, and raises awareness of the important role mothers and fathers as well as grandparents and extended family play as a support system for their children. To observe the holiday spend time talking with your kids about topics of importance to them and plan activities for fun and to help them achieve their goals.

Thank you to Star Bright Books for sharing a copy of Arletis, Abuel, and the Message in a Bottle for review consideration. All opinions on the book are my own.

Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle

Written by Lea Aschkenas | Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu

Growing up in Cuba, Arletis loved studying maps and wondering about the people and places beyond her island. “Her whole life took place on the long, unnamed street that ran in front of the unnumbered house, where she lived.” Some afternoons, she took the horse-drawn carriage that transported people around town to visit her abuela. While she was there, Abuela told her funny stories about her abuelo, who had died before she was born. Sometimes tears would form in Abuela’s eyes as she talked about her husband. Then “Arletis would suggest they pick the grapefruits that grew like miniature suns in the trees Abuela had planted when she was young” to make her favorite treat cascos de toronja.

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Image copyright Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, 2023, text copyright Lea Aschkenas, 2023. Courtesy of Star Bright Books.

Arletis’s life was rich with delicious fruit that grew in trees along her street, swimming in the river when the heat became “so heavy and thick it rolled down the street in dizzying waves,” and playing her favorite game: choreographer, in which she, her cousin, and neighborhood kids danced to the music on the radio. Arletis loved her street, but sometimes she wondered if there was more. In another part of the world—off the coast of Sausalito, California—a man named Steve lived alone on the tugboat with which he had once made his living. While Steve was content on his tugboat, he too wondered if there was more.

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Image copyright Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, 2023, text copyright Lea Aschkenas, 2023. Courtesy of Star Bright Books.

For Arletis’s eighth birthday, her parents rented a beach house for a weekend vacation to Playa Bailén, about 30 miles from home. On the bus ride there, Arletis, for the first time, saw the ocean that surrounded her island. On her birthday, Arletis took a walk along the beach and found a green bottle. The top was sealed with tape, and inside she could see a rolled up piece of paper. The paper turned out to be a letter written in a foreign language. Arletis was excited to realize that the bottle had come from another country.

Even though Arletis couldn’t read the words, she wrote a letter about “her life, about her family and her beautiful street. She asked every question she could think of about life in this other country” and she mailed it to the address provided at the bottom of the message from the bottle. When Steve received the letter, he immediately knew it was a response to his message in the bottle that he had given to a friend who was sailing down the coast and through the Panama Canal. The friend had dropped the bottle into the sea after he’d sailed into the Caribbean Sea.

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Image copyright Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, 2023, text copyright Lea Aschkenas, 2023. Courtesy of Star Bright Books.

Steve was thrilled to receive Arletis’s letter. He had begun studying Spanish and “had been wishing for someone to practice with.” Two months had gone by since Arletis had sent her letter when she heard the mail carrier call out her name and hand her an envelope. It was the first letter Arletis had ever received, and she handled it with great care. Steve had answered all her questions and even sent a picture of himself and his tugboat. Arletis thought Steve looked “old enough to be a grandfather. Arletis had always wished for a grandfather, so she decided to address her next letter, ‘Querido Abuelo Esteban.’ ‘Dear Grandfather Steve'” and invited him to visit her and her family one day.

Arletis and Abuelo Esteban began writing to each other monthly then in one letter, Abuelo Esteban said he would be coming for a visit. “Arletis couldn’t stop smiling.” When Abuelo Esteban arrived, he brought a gift. It was a map he had drawn “showing the path his bottle had taken, first on his friend’s boat and then on the wide open sea to Arletis’s island. It was the most beautiful map Arletis had ever seen.” During the five days that Abuelo Esteban spent with Arletis’s family, he played baseball with her friends, swam in the river, and enjoyed some of Arletis’s favorite foods.

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Image copyright Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, 2023, text copyright Lea Aschkenas, 2023. Courtesy of Star Bright Books.

On Abuelo Esteban’s last night visiting, Arletis’s mother and Abuela made a special dinner, complete with Arletis’s favorite dessert, cascos de toronja. Abuelo Esteban loved it too. He showed everyone pictures of his tugboat and the dock where it was moored. Arletis thought the dock looked just like a little island surrounded by water. When she asked Abuelo Esteban if he thought an island was a good place to live, he replied, “‘Yes, I think so. Especially if there is another island where you have family you can visit.'”

Backmatter includes an Author’s Note that outlines how Lea Aschkenas first met Abuelo Esteban at the Sausalito library where she worked and learned about his story. She adds an update to the story about both Arletis, now an adult, and Steve, who has continued to visit his “familia de corazón”— his family of the heart. A recipe for cascos de toronja, glossary of the Spanish words found in the story, and a list of references for further reading, viewing, and listening in both English and Spanish are also included.

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Image copyright Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, 2023, text copyright Lea Aschkenas, 2023. Courtesy of Star Bright Books.

Lea Aschkenas’s gentle and uplifting story immerses readers in the sights, sounds, flavors, and warm hearts of Cuba. Her comprehensive storytelling is filled with the types of details about Arletis’s life that will captivate readers and resonate with their own love for spontaneous fun, favorite foods, and family relationships. Aschkenas’s lovely descriptive language—Cuba is an “alligator-shaped island,” boiled grapefruit pith for cascos de toronja is as transparent as “a see-through fish,” Arletis and Abuelo Esteban exchange letters “as regularly as the monthly full moon”—and Spanish words and phrases sprinkled throughout the text paint pictures in children’s minds of the special beauty of Cuba.

Through Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu’s stunning watercolor illustrations, readers travel to Cuba to revel in the brilliant colors of the buildings and homes, the luscious hues of tropical fruit, the jewel-like water of the rivers and ocean, and, especially, the sunny smiles of the country’s people. When the story turns to the Sausalito dock where Steve lives, children see that the landscape is similar, with homes and businesses painted in pinks, yellow, red, and blue. Palm trees dot the skyline, and the ocean is as blue as the sky. Van Wright and Hu enchantingly capture Arletis’s wanderlust and her excitement to connect with Steve, with whom she immediately forms a grandfatherly bond. Images of Arletis cooking with her Abuela, dancing and playing baseball with friends, and sitting around the family dinner table with Abuela Esteban will charm children as they take this true story into their heart.

Wonderfully evocative and multilayered, Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle is a remarkable story of family, friendship, pride in one’s country, and the joys to be found in reaching out to others across the world. The book is a heartfelt choice for story times at home and school and would make an impactful addition to any classroom or homeschool geography or social studies curriculum. Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle is highly recommended for all home, school, and public library collections. The book is also available in a Spanish edition: Arletis, abuelo y el mensaje en la botella.

Ages 4 – 8

Star Bright Books, 2023 | ISBN 978-1595729699 (English Hardcover) | ISBN 978-1595729705 (English Paperback) | ISBN 978-1595729729 (Spanish Hardcover) | ISBN 978-1595729712 (Spanish Paperback)

About the Author

LEA ASCHKENAS has written book reviews and articles for Washington Post Book World, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Salon. She is also the author of a travel memoir, Es Cuba: Life and Love on an Illegal Island. She fell in love with Cuba and its people on her first trip to the island in the year 2000 and has been returning nearly every year since. Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle is her first book for children. Lea lives in Northern California where she works as a public librarian and teaches with the California Poets in the Schools program. Visit Lea at: leaaschkenas.com.

About the Illustrators

CORNELIUS VAN WRIGHT and YING-HWA HU are a husband and wife children’s book illustration team. They have worked on many assignments together, but have also illustrated numerous projects and books individually. They have won a number of awards for their books. Their work has been exhibited at the Bologna Book Fair and the Society of Illustrators’ “The Original Art” show. Cornelius and Ying-Hwa live in New York City. You can learn more about Cornelius and Ying-Hwa Hu and their work at pencilmoonstudio.com. Visit Ying-Hwa Hu at yinghwahu.com.

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**You can find Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a Bottle or the Spanish Edition, Arletis, abuelo y el mensaje en la botella, at these booksellers**

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

Arletis, abuelo y el mensaje en la botella

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

To support your local independent bookstore, order from

Bookshop: English Edition | Spanish Edition

Picture Book Review

February 17 – It’s Black History Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Black History Month celebrates the achievements and contributions of African Americans in United States History. Originally a week-long observance initiated by writer and educator Dr. Carter G. Woodson in1926 and occurring during the second week in February to commemorate the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, Black History Month was officially established in 1976 by then president Gerald Ford. The holiday is now celebrated across the country with special events in schools, churches, and community centers.

The theme for 2022 is “Black Health and Wellness” and focuses on the legacy of not only Black scholars and medical practitioners in Western medicine, but also on alternate ways of practicing medicine throughout the African Diaspora. The 2022 theme considers activities, rituals, and initiatives that Black communities engage in to live healthy lives.

To learn more about Black History Month, find information on this year’s events, access resources for more research, and find content for teachers, visit the BlackHistoryMonth.gov.

The Faith of Elijah Cummings: The North Star of Equal Justice

Written by Carole Boston Weatherford | Illustrated by Laura Freeman

During the summer of 1962, when Elijah Cummings was eleven years old, he and other African American children marched for the integration of a Baltimore city pool. They were met with a white mob who shouted at them to “‘Go back where you came from!'” and threw rocks and bottles at them. This protest, organized by civil rights lawyer Juanita Jackson Mitchell, inspired Elijah to consider becoming a lawyer also.

Elijah’s parents had moved to Maryland from South Carolina in the 1940s, where they had worked the land where their parents had once been enslaved and where “Blacks were beaten for seeking voting rights. Elijah, his parents, and his six siblings lived in a four-room row house, where his mother and father – having only a fourth-grade education – stressed the importance of schooling. But for inquisitive Elijah, the nuts and bolts of reading and writing were elusive. Because of the cramped conditions at home, Elijah took to studying at the library, where the librarians tutored him after their shifts and made it possible for Elijah to succeed.

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Image copyright Laura Freeman, 2022, text copyright Carole Boston Weatherford, 2022. Courtesy of Random House Studio.

Through hard work, scrimping, and saving, Elijah’s parents were able to buy a house with more room and a yard. Here, Elijah’s mother became a preacher and grew her small group of women who met in their home’s basement into a small church, the Victory Prayer Chapel. In addition to leading services, Elijah’s mother lived what she believed by helping those in need. Elijah’s father inspired him to become all that he could be.

Even as a young boy, Elijah worked hard and, on Sundays after church, he listened to Rev. Martin Luther King’s speeches by transistor radio. He watched as African American boys were put into reform school, and he vowed to become a lawyer, but his high school guidance counselor tried to dissuade him. With the help of his parents and the pharmacist at the drug store where he worked, Elijah attended Howard University, where he was a standout student and leader. He became a lawyer and in 1983 was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates.

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Image copyright Laura Freeman, 2022, text copyright Carole Boston Weatherford, 2022. Courtesy of Random House Studio.

“In 1996, Elijah Cummings was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives,” and later became the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. “He spoke out to ensure that everyone was treated fairly and equally.” Even though he was a leader in Washington DC, Elijah continued to live in his inner-city Baltimore neighborhood, and during the protests against police brutality in 2015, he appealed for calm as he walked “with residents singing an African American spiritual: ‘This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.'” Before his death in 2019, Elijah Cummings was named chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, where, as he had for his entire career, he advocated for change now and for the future our children will inherit.

Quotes by Elijah Cummings on his inspirations, work, and beliefs included throughout the story allow readers to hear in Cummings’ own words his passion and dedication to creating a more equitable and caring America for all.

A Foreword reprints remarks given by Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi at Elijah Cummings’ funeral on October 25, 2019. Back matter includes an excerpt of the statement from the Congressional Black Caucus upon Cummings’ death on October 17, a Timeline of his life and work, a Bibliography, and Source Notes for the Cummings’ quotes found throughout the story.

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Image copyright Laura Freeman, 2022, text copyright Carole Boston Weatherford, 2022. Courtesy of Random House Studio.

Carole Boston Weatherford’s moving biography of Elijah Cummings highlights the strong and supportive family unit that inspired and sustained Elijah as he grew from a thoughtful and hardworking boy into an empathetic and influential leader. Her focus on formative events in Cummings’ life depict how early experiences often shape the person children become while continuing to inform their opinions, beliefs, and occupations. Through his own words, Weatherford reveals Cummings’ commitment to the children who will read this biography as well as to all young people who will benefit from and carry on his work.

In her rich and expressive illustrations, Laura Freeman recreates pivotal events, touching examples of the Cummings’ family solidarity, and community-based actions inspired by the family’s religious faith to paint a portrait of Elijah’s youth and young adulthood. As he rises to the highest levels within the US Congress, while never losing touch with the neighborhood and people he loved, Freeman’s striking images will entice readers to learn more about Elijah Cummings’ legislative legacy and the workings of Congress and to, perhaps, become involved in their own community.

A masterful biography of Elijah Cummings that deftly interweaves the internal and external influences of his youth with their lifelong effects on his principles, his work, and his lasting influence, The Faith of Elijah Cummings is highly recommended for home bookshelves and a must for school and public library collections.

Ages 6 – 9

Random House Studio, 2022 | ISBN 978-0593306505

Discover more about Carole Boston Weatherford and her books on her website.

To learn more about Laura Freeman, her books, and her art, visit her website.

**You can find The Faith of Elijah Cummings at these booksellers**

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Picture Book Review

April 5 – National Dandelion Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

As warm weather and spring rains begin preparing the ground for grass, flowers, and gardens, there’s another distinctive sprout that appears early – and often. Of course, it’s the dandelion! With its sunny flowers and fly-away seeds, this little plant is part of spring and summer landscapes around the world. The dandelion is far from just a weed, however. In fact, the dandelion is technically an herb and has many health benefits. Dandelion leaves can be used in salads, soups, and teas, and they provide aid with regulating blood sugar, wound healing, gastrointestinal problems, and even vision. Known for its healthy properties since 659 BCE, the dandelion is a staple for many global cultures. To celebrate, check in your favorite grocery store or farmers market for dandelion leaves and try a new recipe! Here are ten delicious-looking dishes from Kitchn!

Thanks to Sleeping Bear Press for sharing a copy of Little Dandelion Seeds the World for review consideration. All opinions on the book are my own.

Little Dandelion Seeds the World

Written by Julia Richardson | Illustrated by Kristen Howdeshell and Kevin Howdeshell

A little girl in a South African city finds a dandelion growing in a crack in the sidewalk. She blows on the fluffy head and “swish, swirl, one hundred seeds fly.” One seed flies to an African plain, where it drops into the grass, roots, and grows. “The flower fades. Fluff puffs. POOF!” and a breeze carries one hundred seeds into the air past an elephant and her baby.

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Image copyright Kristen Howdeshell and Kevin Howdeshell, 2021, text copyright Julia Richardson. Courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press.

One seed takes a ride on a cheetah’s ear until it is caught by the wind again and finds itself in Asia. Here it roots and grows. When the flower turns to fluff, a curious panda gives it a swat and “swish, swirl, one hundred seeds fly.” One of the seeds gets lifted up in a cyclone and deposited “far, far away…in Australia.”

Here a kangaroo, hopping along, jumps on the plant, now just a fuzzy ball. Seeds take to the air, dancing on the breeze. One seed circles over a sailboat and latches onto the pantleg of a boy standing on the bow. When he disembarks, he takes the seed with him up, up into the hills. The seed jumps off and “a little dandelion blooms in North America.”

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Image copyright Kristen Howdeshell and Kevin Howdeshell, 2021, text copyright Julia Richardson. Courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press.

This little plant meets up with a skunk and a bird, and a seed wings its way to South America. Disturbed by a snake slithering by, the puff explodes, sending its seeds every which way. “One little seed slips into the sea, far, far away.” Riding on the current it finds a rock to cling too. “Down with a root. Up with a shoot. A little dandelion blooms in Antarctica.” Another dandelion’s life begins. Finally, with the flick of a seal’s tail, the seeds scatter, one “parachuting. Pirouetting” into Europe, where the familiar, graceful dance continues.

Backmatter includes an illustrated world map that shows the route of the dandelion seeds and approximate landing sites on each continent and an Author’s Note about how dandelions grow and reseed themselves as well as a question to spark discussion.

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Image copyright Kristen Howdeshell and Kevin Howdeshell, 2021, text copyright Julia Richardson. Courtesy of Sleeping Bear Press.

Julia Richardson’s lyrical descriptions and repeated phrases invite kids to follow dandelion seeds as they travel the world. Richardson’s engaging storytelling will keep kids guessing as to where the seeds will travel next while teaching them about the ingenuity and resilience of nature. The global aspect of the story reminds readers that we are all connected through common experiences, the plants and animals with whom we share our planet, and our responsibilities for conservation.

Through Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell’s bold textured illustrations, readers travel the world with tiny dandelion seeds from the sunbaked African savanna, where cheetahs and elephants roam to a verdant bamboo forest, where a panda almost walks off the page to play with the dandelion, to the lush hills of a coastal town and beyond. In each place local children interact with their environment, giving readers a feeling of inclusion too.

An eye-catching and lyrical introduction to nature science that will spark enthusiasm for learning not only about dandelions but about how all plants grow and thrive, Little Dandelion Seeds the World would be a high-interest addition to science, geography, and social studies lessons for classrooms and homeschoolers as well as to public library collections.

Ages 5 – 8

Sleeping Bear Press, 2021 | ISBN 978-1534110533

Discover more about Julia Richardson and her books on her website.

To learn more about Kristen Howdeshell and Kevin Howdeshell, their books, and their art, visit their website, The Brave Union.

National Dandelion Day Activity

Little Dandelion Seeds the World Activity Pages

Grab your crayons and pencils and have fun with this printable coloring page and word search puzzle from Sleeping Bear Press!

Little Dandelion Seeds the World Activity Pages

**You can find Little Dandelion Seeds the World at these booksellers**

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To support your local independent bookstore, order from

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Picture Book Review

January 28 – Global Community Engagement Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Today’s holiday was established by Engage 2 Act – a nonprofit based in Australia whose mission is to create, nurture, and support a dynamic professional network among community groups – to encourage organizations, individuals, and businesses to better engage with their community to build strong bonds that lead to improvements for all. Before one can engage with their community, they must know, understand, and even love it. Today’s book teaches kids about their peers nearby and around the world.

Me and the World: An Infographic Exploration

Written by Mireia Trius | Illustrated by Joana Casals

Statistic are fascinating. No, really! Kids especially love knowing where they stack up in the grand scheme of things, and today’s book gives them a whole world’s worth of numbers about all kinds of things people have, do, believe, and interact with. This detailed, down-to-the-decimal compendium of facts starts out with perhaps the first thing people learn about each other: first names. From Canada to Australia and most of the countries in between, kids discover what the most popular boys’ and girls’ names have been in recent years.

With the introductions made, readers move on to another familiar topic: the family. Data from 1950 to 2015 shows the changes in family size around the globe, the average household now, and the multitude of different family structures, which includes the number of adults, children, grandparents, or other family members living together. We all love our pets no matter whether they’re dogs, cats, birds, or fish. But What is the most popular pet in each country? Kids will find out the percentages of these special friends in twelve countries. Did you know that the numbers are almost even between families that have pets and those that don’t?

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Image copyright Joana Casals, 2020, text copyright Mireia Trius, 2020. Courtesy of Chronicle Books.

Kids looking toward the future know there are a lot of different jobs to choose from. The stylish graphic for Section 6 shows thirty-nine professions (is one of them your favorite?). Readers discover five jobs that didn’t exist before 2005 and statistics on what types of industries employ the most workers. Kids may be interested to know that they fall within the group that makes up the largest number: the 1.9 billion people who are between the ages of 0 and 15 and are too young to work.

Do you ramble around in a large house or elbow each other for room while brushing your teeth? An eye-opening graphic combined with fourteen different styles of homes found around the world give kids an idea of how and where their peers live. They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So, how do people around the world start their busy days? Children will be interested to find what’s on the table in seventeen countries, with descriptions of each delicious dish.

Of course, kids spend a lot of time in school, and here they get a thorough lesson in all things education, from how many hours and years children study in various countries, the kinds of uniforms they wear, and what they’re served in the cafeteria. While some aspects of school are different for kids in different regions, homework is a staple. Students will be interested to find out how many hours a week is spent on this universal requirement, and… how many hours parents spend helping their kids.

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Image copyright Joana Casals, 2020, text copyright Mireia Trius, 2020. Courtesy of Chronicle Books.

And after school? How do kids spend their leisure time? Readers learn about internet time and reading habits, including the all-time ten bestselling books in the world and required reading in schools in twenty countries. Can you guess which novel US students read? There’s also sports and playground games—some that are familiar and others that readers will want to try!

When school’s out for the summer, there are vacations to take. Looking for somewhere to go? Check out the twelve most-visited cities and the top twelve museums for ideas. You can even learn some words and hand gestures to use to communicate overseas. One final chart imagines the world as a microcosm with only 100 people in it. Conceptualizing the categories of gender, age, geography, religion, first language, literacy, and urban or rural lifestyle divided into smaller numbers gives readers a simpler way to see and think about global percentages of aspects that are a large part of their lives and the lives of their peers.

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Image copyright Joana Casals, 2020, text copyright Mireia Trius, 2020. Courtesy of Chronicle Books.

Author Mireia Trius begins her exploration of the world by introducing readers to Lucia and her brother Hugo, who are from Spain. Lucia opens each section with a bit about her own life. For example in Section 3: Pets, Lucia tells kids about her beagle, Vito. In Section 6: Jobs and Professions, Lucia talks about her mom who’s a veterinarian and her dad who’s a carpenter. Children will enjoy these small glimpses into Lucia and Hugo’s family life, school days, and travels as they soak up some world-wide knowledge.

Globetrotting kids will love Joana Casals’ eye-popping infographics that jump off the page and invite kids to look closer and inspect the particulars about each topic. Images of different houses, meals at home and school, school uniforms, and playground games mix with various colors and sizes of dots, books, suitcases, and taaall backpacks loaded with homework make parsing the percentages and numbers fun.

A fascinating look at the world through universal events and daily lives Me and the World: An Infographic Exploration will get kids excited about classroom and homeschooling geography, social studies and math lessons.

Ages 9 – 12

Chronicle Books, 2020 | ISBN 978-1452178875

Discover more about Mireia Trius, her books and her publishing house Zahorí here.

You can connect with Joana Casals on Instagram.

**You can find Me and the World: An Infographic Exploration at these booksellers**

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To support your local independent bookstore, order from

Bookshop | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

December 15 – International Tea Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Established in 2005 in New Deli, India, International Tea Day was created to raise awareness within the governments of tea-growing countries of the rights of tea workers, their conditions, and their economic contributions. Today, the holiday is commemorated widely in tea-growing nations. Some of the issues the day focuses on include wages, medical care, and education for women tea workers, who make up fifty percent of of the workforce on tea plantations. Following water, tea is the most widely drunk beverage in the world. To celebrate today, enjoy a cuppa with a cookie, a scone, or another favorite treat.

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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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 makes 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.

International Tea Day 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 | Books-a-Million

To support your local independent bookstore, order from

Bookshop | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

November 9 – Celebrating the Election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

This week the people of the United States elected a new President and Vice President who will lead our nation for the next four years. In many ways this election was historic, from the most votes ever cast for a presidential candidate to its taking place during a pandemic that required extraordinary measures to ensure everyone could participate and commitment on the part of voters. Most significant, however, was the election of Kamala Harris, the first woman, the first Black, and the first South Asian to hold the office of Vice President. To celebrate the 2020 election, I’ve reviewed two outstanding biographies, one about Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the other about Kamala Harris.

Joey: The Story of Joe Biden

Written by Dr. Jill Biden with Kathleen Krull | Illustrated by Amy June Bates

With a gift for storytelling and an ear for the kinds of details that will draw kids in, Jill Biden introduces young readers to her husband and soon-to-be President of the United States, Joe Biden, at the age of eight. Even at this young age, Joe—or Joey as he was then called—demonstrated a fun-loving competitive spirit, maturity, daring, and sense of responsibility that would take him far in life. How competitive? Despite being the smallest boy on any of his teams, “he was always ready for the ball.” How daring? Take your pick: the time he and his friends hopped “from rooftop to rooftop of the garages” in his neighborhood after seeing a Tarzan movie; the time he swung on a rope “over a construction site without a net;” or when he shimmied to the top of the slippery, swaying flag pole at the football field.”