Tea Books for Children

The phrase “a bull in a china shop” inspired Katelyn Aronson to write Clovis Keeps His Cool, which School Library Journal named a Best Book of 2021. “What a wonderful image it created in the mind’s eye. What backstory might bring a bull into a china shop in the first place? What if he actually owned it, having inherited it from his grandmother? How might a big, brawny bull learn to navigate such a tight space filled with fragile wares?” says the author, whose book is published by Page Street Kids, pagestreetpublishing.com.

A former football player with a terrible temper on and off the field, Clovis is harassed by rival players (one of which is also a bull) who enter his china shop and start breaking things. He chases them through town and is about to attack them, when his grandmother’s soothing words about grace come to mind. He calms down, invites them back to the shop to have tea, and is astonished when they return later to help him clean up the damage inside his shop.

“Grace is the most important message in my book. Sometimes it refers to the forgiveness we need to extend to ourselves and others, or to the care we put into our everyday activities. It’s no mistake that Grace is also his granny’s name. She embodies the message that it’s ok to learn from your mistakes, pick up the pieces, and start again—and let others do the same.”

Katelyn, who teaches French and English at an international school in Switzerland, has a bilingual master’s degree in translating children’s books from the Sorbonne in Paris, has worked at children’s bookshops, and worked at a place that hosted tea parties for children’s birthdays in her first-ever job at age 15. As a tween, she enjoyed tearooms with her best friend and their mothers.

“We reveled in the fanciness of [afternoon tea]. It’s a beautiful tradition for adults to share with children: It’s all about pausing to render the present moment sacred—something very much needed in the frenetic pace of modern life.” A delicate blue-and-white teacup inherited from her grandmother, which she always worried would break, inspired her book’s climax. When Clovis’ tormentors shatter his grandmother’s favorite teacup, he’s enraged.

Tea is too genteel an experience to limit to adults. We’re grateful to these authors to introduce it to little ones as well.

Sharon McDonnell is a travel, food, and drink writer in San Francisco. Her story on Europe’s oldest tea farm is in TeaTime’s May/June 2022 issue. Read her other work at sharonmcdonnell.contently.com.

Discover more seasonal recipes, table settings, and teatime inspiration by ordering your TeaTime subscription today!