Cloud Tea Monkeys

Carnegie Medalist Mal Peet and his wife, Elspeth Graham, team up for a captivating, lushly illustrated tale evoking a Chinese legend.

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Tashi lives in a tiny village at the foot of the mountains, below the tea plantations where her mother works. When her mother falls ill, Tashi goes alone to the plantation, hoping to earn money for the doctor. But she is far too small to harvest the tender shoots, and her clumsy efforts anger the cruel Overseer. She is desolate, until — chack-chack-chack! — something extraordinary happens. Inspired by a centuries-old legend of tea-picking monkeys, here is a richly told tale full of vivid characters: the heartless Overseer, the enigmatic Royal Tea Taster, and — far away — an empress with a penchant for tea.

Carnegie Medalist Mal Peet and his wife, Elspeth Graham, team up for a captivating, lushly illustrated tale evoking a Chinese legend.

A Junior Library Guild Selection

Tashi lives in a tiny village at the foot of the mountains, below the tea plantations where her mother works. When her mother falls ill, Tashi goes alone to the plantation, hoping to earn money for the doctor. But she is far too small to harvest the tender shoots, and her clumsy efforts anger the cruel Overseer. She is desolate, until — chack-chack-chack! — something extraordinary happens. Inspired by a centuries-old legend of tea-picking monkeys, here is a richly told tale full of vivid characters: the heartless Overseer, the enigmatic Royal Tea Taster, and — far away — an empress with a penchant for tea.

Publishers Weekly

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.)

Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham live in Devon, England, in a house not too far from the sea. Elspeth writes on the ground floor, and Mal writes in the attic. Sometimes they meet in the middle to write books like this one. Elspeth Graham found the seed for the story while writing a book about tea. Mal Peet is the author of such YA novels as KEEPER, THE PENALTY, EXPOSURE, and the Carnegie Medal-winning TAMAR.

Juan Wijngaard has illustrated more than thirty books for children, including SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE: AN INTERACTICE POP-UP THEATRE and the Kate Greenaway Medal-winning SIR GAWAIN AND THE LOATHLY LADY. He lives in New Mexico.