Tea Time

by Beth Ferry, Dana Wulfekotte (Illustrations)

A migh-TEA mix-up leads to a delightful day for a little girl and her grampy.

Frannie and Grandy both have an idea about what the perfect day should look like, but when that day arrives, there is a migh-TEA mix-up. Tea gets splashed, sandwiches smashed, and expectations, crushed. Luckily, Frannie and Grandy discover that a perfect day is just one they spend together.

New York Times bestselling author Beth Ferry partners with award-winning illustrator Dana Wulfekotte to bring us a funny and tender ode to the relationship between children and grandparents.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Family, Humor, Storytime, Sports, Food

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Beth Ferry is the author of the picture books Stick and Stone and Land Shark. Her family has cared for myriad pets, including two land sharks, a hedgehog, a blue-tongued skink, and a heap of hamsters, but her absolutely perfect pet is an English bulldog named Winston. She lives in New Jersey.

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is that tea time? Or tee time? It depends on who you ask, Frannie or Grandy. Both are planning for an outing, but they have very different ideas what they will be doing. A fun confusion of homophones leads to miscommunication between granddaughter and grandfather, but they manage to combine the two things in the end. Golf terms are included in the back in case the reader is missing the word play.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

TEA TIME is a cute picture book read about misunderstandings and family. Frannie and Grandy (her grandfather) are both getting ready for their day together. Frannie is preparing a special picnic with her mother for teatime with Grandy, while Grandy is preparing his golf equipment for tee time with Frannie. When they arrive to where they are going, Frannie gets set up on the green for the picnic only to realize the mistake when a golf ball ruins the teatime picnic. Luckily, Grandy has a new idea, and they enjoy both teatime and tee time together.

What I loved: This was a sweet book about misunderstandings, homonyms, and family. The book also contains a lot of specialized golfing terms, with a helpful glossary in the back. The writing is relatively simple with no more than a few sentences on each page that would work well for younger readers.

What left me wanting more: These may not be terms that young readers are familiar with, and if they do not yet know how to read independently (so they can track the different spellings), this ends up being pretty confusing with the homonyms. The repetitive and similar words also cause some mouth fumbles as you read along, and the misunderstanding ends up being pretty drawn out. I think some more explanation would have helped in the middle with less lead-up at the beginning.

Final verdict: A book about family, misunderstandings, and homonyms, TEA TIME would work for independent readers who enjoy picture books.

[Roben · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents kids with the concept of words that sound alike but are spelled differently (homonyms). It focuses on "tea" and "tee". Frannie thinks she and her grandfather are going to the park for a tea party but Grandy thinks that he and Frannie are visiting the local course for a round of golf. Of course, in real life this would not happen because the word "golf" would be exchanged at some point by the adults- but this is a story about word play, not critical thinking.
Kids would need to be at a basic reading level so they would understand the spelling differences between the two words. But if you have a golf-loving grandparent, this would make a good book to read with them.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terrific story to teach about different words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Frannie and her grandpa are both excited to spend time together. Each is planning on a tea/tee time. Hilarity ensues when Frannie sets out her tea party meal on the green. It's also sad as everything is ruined by a flying golf ball. Together, they then celebrate each other's plan and have a wonderful time together. Lovely illustrations and an easy to follow story.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is all about playing on the homophone tee/tea and a few others. Granddad thinks he is taking his granddaughter to tee off at the golf course, and granddaughter thinks they are having tea for two on a picnic. This book tries too hard. It stretches out the homophone misunderstanding way too much. Plus both characters have similar names and it was just all over the place. This was not a book I enjoyed or would ever do for story time, but I can see other library users liking it.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute play-on-words book and relationship between granddaughter/grandpa. The text is a little tell-y in parts, and the buildup wasn't as dramatic as it could have been. I found the story a little confusing as Grandy seems to clearly want to golf, even though later he seems to know that real golfing would be too hard for Frannie. Don't know where his golf clubs went in the illustrations, and also, the end felt a little farfetched.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun story about a little girl who’s planning tea time with her grandpa. But he is planning tee time with her at the same time! Will golf and cake on china plates be a good match? Lively illustrations illuminate the confusion and the love that saves the day. A winner for children and their golf-loving grownups.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometime I'd like to do a "misunderstanding/miscommunication" storytime. This book would work for that. Grandpa thinks he and his grandchild are going to have "tee" time and play golf. Grandchild thinks they're going to have "tea" time and have a lovely meal. Hmm, maybe they'll do both ;) Could be paired with Falling for Rapunzel/Wilcox and Telephone/Barnett. Maybe Duck! Rabbit!/Rosenthal, too.

[Haelee Jenft · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this book was ok. I found it sort of boring throughout some of the book. It is definitely an easy reader and for younger kids. The illustrations were good and the story line was good. It is for the attention of a younger crowd of students.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute picture book that could help start a discussion about homophones and perspective and communication. It's a fun story with absolutely adorable illustrations that's suitable for story time, especially if you have a group that understands what golf is.

[Cailin Leithead · Rating 5 out of 5]

My little cousin loved this book! Glad it didn’t mention the grandma much!! Very cute and sweet and the grandpa had funny glasses!! My little cousin said she “loved it” and it’s one of her favorites! She loves hippos so this was great!!

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book!

[Mr. George The Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super Cute! Wonder introduction to misunderstandings.

[Annese · Rating 4 out of 5]

ADORABLE!

[Pinky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Franny and Grandy have a grand time going for tee and tea time.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute

[Opetoritse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ferry gets a lot of mileage out of a simple pun in this charmingly sweet story, made all the more delightful by Wulfekotte's expressive illustrations.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure that this book was written about my golf-loving husband and our make-believe-loving daughter. Too cute!

[Megan Sanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This made me laugh a lot as someone who loves tea but only wants to mini golf

[Cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness! Adorable! Gave me a little glimpse of Amelia Bedelia vibes. So cute! Fun bedtime read.

[SamSamSam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aw!!!! VOCABULARY

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, this was so adorable!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story of a granddad and his granddaughter who get mixed up about "tea time". Golf vs a tea party. Sweet story and cute illustrations.

[Miss Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it tea time or tee time? There is a little bit of confusion when Grandpa and Frannie meet for tea time. One expecting golfing and the other is expecting tea.

Great book to talk about homophones (words that can sound the same but have different meanings).

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute for teaching play on words/homophones.