Some kids like tea parties, others like dinosaurs, and never the twain shall meet—until now? Idle cleverly constructs her picture book as a Miss Manners–style primer on how to throw a delightfully proper tea party, and the prose’s stiff upper lip never falters no matter the monster-sized faux pas occurring within the illustrations. After greeting a guest at the door, “Lead him through to the parlor.” (Illustration: siblings straining to pull a giant green dinosaur through a human-sized door.) Next: “Offer him a comfortable chair.” (Illustration: a dainty pink chair nearly crushed beneath a behemoth rear end.) And on it goes with the dino wreaking havoc upon each highly civilized instance of small talk or cake serving. The cuddly yet giddily preposterous pencil art has the still-life absurdity of Chris Van Allsburg, with characters always frozen in the throes of some larger-than-life struggle against their well-meaning but deadpan dinosaur friend. A fine example of how words and pictures can lock horns to charming effect. Grades K-2. –Daniel Kraus
Review
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
Other Picture Books to consider:
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Hurts Like A Mother
Star Wars The Adventures of Luke Skywalker
The Art of The Disney Golden Books
Disney The Art of Zootopia Book
The Stumps of Flattop Hill
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