Cloud Tea Monkeys Mal Peet; Elspeth Graham; Juan Wijngaard

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

When her mother becomes too ill to work on the tea plantation, Shenaz' friends, the troop of monkeys, come to her rescue. From high in the cloud-topped mountains, they bring her a glistening green treasure.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

A story inspired by Chinese legends comes to luminous life in the hands of Carnegie Medal-winner Peet (Tamar); his wife, Graham; and Greenaway Medalist Wijngaard (Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady). The authors' richly descriptive tone sets the stage: "The sun had not yet found a way through the mountains, but it was coming; a light the color of lemons was soaking into the sky and painting out the stars." Each day, as Tashi's mother works in the tea fields, Tashi slips away to share her lunch with the wild monkeys. When Tashi's mother falls ill, the girl desperately tries, and fails, to pick tea to earn money for a doctor. Disappearing into the cloudy Himalayan peaks, the monkeys return with a rare, coveted "cloud tea" that prompts a life-changing reward from the visiting Royal Tea Taster. Formal, expressive ink and gouache illustrations capture every nuance; Wijngaard also gently mocks the adults in power; in a funny, four-panel illustration, the Taster comically swishes and spits like a self-important wine connoisseur. Unique and atmospheric, this tale freshly presents the karmic rewards of kindness. Ages 4-up. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 3-Tashi's mother labors on a tea plantation in the shadow of the Himalayas. One day she is too ill to get out of bed. Tashi knows that without her day's wages, they won't have money for a doctor, but without medical care her mother won't get well enough to work. "The problem went around and around. It was like a snake with its tail in its mouth, and Tashi was frightened by it." The child tries to pick tea herself, but she is too small to reach the tops of the plants where the tender new leaves grow. She retreats in tears, only to be comforted by a troop of monkeys she has befriended. And then the magical element of the story emerges: the monkeys climb into the mountains and pick the rarest and most sought-after tea leaves in the world. The Royal Tea Taster samples the leaves in Tashi's basket and pays her a handsome sum, with the promise of more in the future. This story, inspired by tales of tea-picking monkeys of the Himalayas, would be merely pleasant were it not for Wijngaard's expressive, richly detailed ink-and-gouache illustrations. Tashi's solemn face as she comforts her bedridden mother, the dynamic depictions of the Tea Taster swishing tea and spitting out a mouthful, the play of light through the branches under which the monkeys eat fruit, and even the delicate tracery of a decorative pattern on the bottom of each page all contribute to the thoughtful bookmaking.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Taking cues from Chinese legend, husband-and-wife team of Peet and Graham create a unique story set in an unspecified past. Tashi, a young girl, walks with her mother every morning to the tea plantation. While her mother and other women pick tea leaves under the scrutiny of a slimy overseer, Tashi heads off to share fruit with a group of feisty monkeys. When her mother becomes too ill to work, Tashi attempts to fill her shoes, but gets laughed off the field by the overseer. Distraught and worried there will be no money to pay for a doctor, she retreats to her secret spot. The monkeys snatch up her tea basket and disappear up into the mountain mists, returning with a basketful of nearly glowing tea. When the Royal Tea Taster appears, he nearly swoons over the rare tea in Tashi's basket and pays her handsomely for the bounty. The tale has the feel of a time-honed fable simple, elegant, and moving which is especially well complemented by Wijngaard's sumptuous illustrations.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2010 Booklist

Horn Book Review

Tashi shares her fruit with the wild monkeys near the tea plantation where her mother toils. When her mother falls ill, the monkeys bring Tashi "cloud tea," which she sells for enough money to solve her problems. Inspired by Himalayan legends, this original tale has a timeless feel. Delicate ink and gouache paintings and ink vignettes display rural mountain life. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Book Review

Tea, labor-intensive to harvest, is a precious commodity, but wild-growing cloud tea, found only in the highest, dangerous-to-reach mountaintops, is the most prized of all in this lyrical story based on a Chinese folktale. Readers are transported to an unnamed past and place (identified in the author's note as the Himalayan region) where Tashi's mother becomes too sick to pick tea, and Tashi and her "cloud tea monkeys" save the day. The poetic text is vividly descriptive: "a light the color of lemons was soaking into the sky and painting out the stars." The deftly spun, emotionally resonant fairy-tale storywith its repulsive, mean plantation Overseer and at-first-intimidating Royal Tea Taster, who delights in Tashi's impossible harvestbegs to be read aloud. No design detail is overlooked, from the gorgeous cover (and its glossy, raised, curling, monkey-shaped tea steam) forward. Wijngaard's elegant, exquisitely etched gouache-and-ink illustrations of both characters and landscapes are splashed across spreads or framed on cream-colored paper with subtle geometric borders. Unlike cloud tea, an accessible treasure. (authors' note) (Picture book. 5-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.