Review of "Tea With The Queen"
Written by Crissi Hart
Illustrated by Stephen Macquignon

I received a free copy of this e-book in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This story concept is quite cute and the illustrations are just as adorable. A mouse named Charlie, in the company of his grandparents Arthur and Harriet, gets to fly on the back of a goose named Percy to Buckingham Palace so that his grandmother may have tea with the mouse Queen. This is an honor given to mice who have reached their 100th birthday, as Harriet has. The book opens with the family already in the air, on their way to the Palace. The story details their exciting ride atop Percy the goose, during which Charlie loses his hat and feels threatened by seagulls. The flight ends with a water crash landing in a rose garden right outside of Buckingham Palace, where the family has to escape the Queen’s guard dogs so they can scurry inside the Palace just in time for tea with the Queen!

I would say that this story would be most enjoyed by preschool aged children, from around age 2 ½ to around age 6. The story has several subtle “teaching moments” embedded within it that are great for that age group as well. I have listed a few below:

Harriet, Charlie’s grandmother, is unable to recall where they are going and why, so her family must remind her, which is certainly understandable at 100! This is a brief moment in the story dialogue and is very nonthreatening, perfect for preschoolers.

Percy the goose is a bit of a show off, and flies in a rather unsafe manner, which delights young Charlie but causes his grandparents some distress. What a great way to bring up a discussion on being safe and making sure that we think about the feelings and well-being of others! Again, this is a brief moment in the story, perfect for a non-confrontational introduction to behaving nicely and being safe.

Charlie experiences many emotions on the trip, from delight to fear. He feels nervous with seagulls flying around them, even though the seagulls offer no threat. He is also not entirely happy about flying, preferring to stay on the ground. There are a few, very brief displays of emotion by characters in the story. Reading this could be a wonderful way to initiate a discussion about feelings with younger children.

Assorted characters also hear the screeching of seagulls, feel cold air, smell salt from the sea, see distant objects on the ground, and remember eating their favorite cheese. A fabulous way to briefly introduce the five senses.

What I love the most about each of these small “teaching opportunities” is that they all begin and end on the same page, which keeps it simple for the children, as well as for whoever is reading and turning pages!

As I said above, the story concept is cute and there are moments written into the story that parents and teachers can definitely use and appreciate. That being said, I have to admit that the story content could flow and transition a little smoother. There are times when it seems the only transition from one situation to the next is the turning of the page, rather than content that outlines or explains the transition. For example, Percy flies upside down and scares Charlie’s grandparents so much that Arthur yells at him not to do it again… we turn the page… and find there is no further mention of it. Percy does not acknowledge Arthur’s request in any way. Arthur is the last one to speak on that page but on the next page, the “he” that the first paragraph refers to is Charlie, who is in an entirely different situation. I had to go back and read it again just to be sure I hadn’t missed something. This is not a lone example of choppiness with the story content. There are several places where the story seems too choppy for some children within the target audience range to follow without explanation. The choppiness could be an editing issue. There were pages where sentences had been grouped into paragraphs in a confusing manner. With very little thought it was easy to see where it made more sense for the break in text to be, but for the target audience of this book, it probably would not be so easy. Also, while I saw no other grammar issues, on the first page there is a sentence with proper tense disagreement. Nothing that most people will notice, only former teachers and grammar police like myself.

I read this to a small group of children, ranging in ages from five to ten. They all seemed engaged and focused on the book. No one got confused, so maybe I am letting my years as a teacher focus me a little too much on grammar. Overall, this was a cute book that I think young children will enjoy.