Tea Rex

by Molly Idle

Overview

Some tea parties are for grown-ups.
Some are for girls.
But this tea party is for a very special guest.
And it is important to follow some rules . . .
like providing comfortable chairs,
and good conversation,
and yummy food.
But sometimes that is not enough for special guests,
especially when their manners are more Cretaceous than gracious . . .

Introducing Tea Rex, a guest that just about any child would love to have to tea!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780670014309
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/09/2013
Series:	A Rex Book
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	266,442
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Molly Idle takes her tea with milk (no sugar) and will always accept the offer of a slice of chocolate cake to go with it. Just about any time but tea time, she can be found at her desk pouring over stacks of drawings, or running amok after her two very special boys. She and her family live in Tempe, Arizona.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for Tea Rex by Molly Idle:

"Sure to be enjoyed by tea-party enthusiasts, and even dino fans with no use for a teapot will find themselves drawn to this clever tale of a not-entirely-civilized beast of the past."  —Kirkus 

“…Idle has a gift for comic composition...” —Publishers Weekly

"The tension between the text and illustrations provides much to amuse the youngest tea-party hosts." —School Library Journal

"A fine example of how words and pictures can lock horns to charming effect." —Booklist

Editorial Reviews

Children know how dinosaurs say goodnight, but what’s the drill when one of them comes to tea? Idle (Flora and the Flamingo) explains it all, mining the comic chasm between a briskly genteel narrator and a fanciful reality. “When hosting an afternoon tea for a special friend—greet your guest at the door,” she instructs, as a girl and her younger brother, dressed in their Sunday best, welcome a huge green tyrannosaurus (its belly fills the doorframe while its beady, eager eyes peer through a half-circle window at the top). This isn’t going to be easy, but the creature is game, settling its humongous bottom onto an alarmingly petite chair and pouring with gusto, if not grace. The dainty, uniformly light colors, coupled with the dinosaur’s velveteenlike texture, can make some of the story’s many funny moments a bit difficult to discern at first glance. But Idle has a gift for comic composition, and her precise pencil linework and tidy borders exude a sense of authority and propriety worthy of Miss Manners, imposing order and decorum on the increasingly chaotic scenes. Ages 3–5. Agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Tea Rex by Molly Idle:

"Sure to be enjoyed by tea-party enthusiasts, and even dino fans with no use for a teapot will find themselves drawn to this clever tale of a not-entirely-civilized beast of the past."  —Kirkus 

“…Idle has a gift for comic composition...” —Publishers Weekly

"The tension between the text and illustrations provides much to amuse the youngest tea-party hosts." —School Library Journal

"A fine example of how words and pictures can lock horns to charming effect." —Booklist

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 1—A droll narrator gives clear instructions for hosting a successful tea party. Meanwhile the colored-pencil illustrations show a gathering teetering on disaster with every page turn as the guest of honor is none other than an enormous Tyrannosaurus rex. The soft pastel hues and rounded shapes keep this dinosaur more large and bumbling than fierce or scary, but the child's teddy bear suffers a few close calls. Etiquette advice focuses on putting guests at ease: "It's good to have extra cups and napkins on hand… as accidents can happen. But a good host meets these little challenges with a cheerful smile…," and all of the guests survive unharmed, if rather rumpled, and delighted with the return invitation from the dinosaur. The tension between the text and illustrations provides much to amuse the youngest tea-party hosts.—Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA

School Library Journal

Emily Post herself could not come up with a more proper set of guidelines for entertaining a visitor from the Cretaceous. Except for opening and closing invitations, the text is made up entirely of words of sage advice, while the illustrations tell the riotous story. Cordelia and her teddy-clutching younger brother host a polite, if not entirely trained, T-Rex at their tea party. At first, things go well, with the toothy guest shaking hands all around and devouring cakes and treats. The party quickly disintegrates, however, when the hostess' hat proves to be the only possible adequate teacup, the teddy barely escapes several dire fates, and some raucous dancing leads to a busted home. Fortunately--and properly--the T-Rex makes sure to return the invite, and our young heroes party with all their favorite dinos. Idle makes full use of the ironic juxtaposition of meat-eater against tea etiquette, mining the humor of it for all it's worth. Created by surprisingly bright colored pencils, each scene glows. Idle's smallest details are where the true pleasure lies, as when the hostess bores her guests with talk of begonias, and the T-Rex surreptitiously checks the watch on his tiny little wrist. Sure to be enjoyed by tea-party enthusiasts, and even dino fans with no use for a teapot will find themselves drawn to this clever tale of a not-entirely-civilized beast of the past. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews