Cloud Tea Monkeys

by Mal Peet, Elspeth Graham, Juan Wijngaard (Illustrator)

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.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Asia, Fiction, Fantasy, Tea, Animals

56 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Mal Peet grew up in North Norfolk, and studied English and American Studies at the University of Warwick. Later he moved to southwest England and worked at a variety of jobs before turning full-time to writing and illustrating in the early 1990s. With his wife, Elspeth Graham, he had written and illustrated many educational picture books for young children, and his cartoons have appeared in a number of magazines.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Women work from dawn to dusk picking tea leaves for daily subsistence wages.
When Tashi's mother becomes too sick to move, how will they survive? Will the other women, who are friends and relatives, band together to help? Will the abusive overseer have a change of heart?

No. Miraculously, monkeys save the day. Tashi and her mother become rich and move. Screw all the other women, they can go on working themselves to death.

The pictures are nice, especially the landscape parts.


Juan Wijngaard

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunningly atmospheric, this simple, dramatic tale reads a bit like Jorge Luis Borges for kids. Tashi's mother is a tea picker in the foothills of the Himalayas. Their day is described in beautifully descriptive sensory terms, from the sweet scent of their morning tea to the "blurred red globe" of the sun on their walk home from work.

Every day, Tashi shares her lunch with the monkeys who frequent the tea fields. When her mother becomes too sick to work, despondent Tashi takes refuge with the monkeys and falls asleep. She awakes to find that her kindness has been repaid - the monkeys have filled her basket with the rarest wild tea, the tea that the Royal Tea Taster will pay for in gold, enabling Tashi and her mother to live out their days in peace and prosperity.

In an Author's Note, Mal and Elspeth say that they came up with this story after having read many tales involving tea from the Himalayas. They do not say that they've traveled to the region, but I've been to tea plantations in India, and I find it hard to believe that they could so beautifully describe the light, the mist, the way the day progresses without having been there.

The ink and gouache illustrations are likewise marvelous. Juan Wijngaard has a lovely light touch, and great dexterity in capturing the muted colors of early morning, strong midday colors, and dappled shade alike. His fine-line ink drawings are breathtaking.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1999, and illustrated by Alan Marks, this tale of a Himalayan tea-picker's daughter has just been reprinted, with gorgeous new artwork by Juan Wijngaard! It follows the story of Tashi, who - considered too young to work - spends her time playing in the shade with the monkeys, while her mother works all day picking tea leaves in the huge plantation fields. When her mother becomes ill, and cannot work, and Tashi's efforts to take her place lead only to ridicule at the hands of the cruel Overseer, it seems that the situation is hopeless. But some assistance from her monkey friends, and a surprise visit from the Royal Tea Taster, leads to a most unexpected change in Tashi and her mother's lives...

Cloud Tea Monkeys is such a beautiful book! With its simple story of an impoverished but loving family, who barely skirt disaster, it highlights the reality of poverty in a non-didactic way, teaching children that for many, a simple illness can lead to utter destitution. I liked that Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham didn't feel the need to spell everything out: they don't explain why Tashi and her mother seem to be on their own, they don't rub the reader's face in the desperation of the world's laboring poor, letting their narrative speak for itself. I also liked - even loved! - the artwork. The ink and gouache illustrations by Juan Wijngaard are simply breathtaking, with a rich, colorful palette, and many expressive details. Anyone who loves beautifully-illustrated picture-books should definitely take a look at this one!

[N. Hyett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The “Cloud Tea Monkeys” is a great book to help inspire children to use their imagination about other parts of the world. The Book is about Tashi, a girl who lives in India with her mother. Her mother picks leaves in a tea plantation and one day she becomes ill, Tashi tries to pick tea leaves but is not tall or strong enough. Tashi often feeds monkeys and on this day whilst feeling sad she goes and sits with the monkeys and falls asleep, when she wakes up the basket is full of tea leaves. Long story short, the tea comes from a part of the mountain only monkeys can get to, the pick the leaves and a man buys the tea leaves. He promises to return every year on the same date and buy the same leave. Tashi and her mother is very happy. This is a great book that is very cross curriculum, you can talk about geography, science, history, maths and ICT, children can explore what a tea plantation looks like, where they are found and how does tea get from India to our kitchen. There are some fantastic describing words about the mountains and the monkeys that children can talk about and then try and copy. I would say it is a good book for children in year 5 and above as there is a lot of reading to do. I liked this book and if possible I plan to use it in my future teaching career.

[Andrew Shute · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite this book having an element of challenging language this book would be a great read to children out loud.

I personally am a big fan of Asia and that part of the world and this book captivated me and I am sure would do the same for children if read out loud with the pictures being shown to them.

This book allows for children to be exposed to the harshness of real life (such as poverty, sickness, possible loss of family member) but allows them to explore this with safety and a realisation that things can work out ok.

One aspect that really shone out to me was the link between humans and nature, via the use of the monkeys. As Tashi respected the monkeys and was generous she reaped the rewards as they then looked after her, so this can bring about an element of Geography with looking after nature and also allow children to discover where and how foods they buy in the supermarket get there.

The quality of the book itself is great with very detailed and picturesque scenery that would impress any primary aged child.

A great pleasure to read and so much so the minute I got home I had to have a cup of Chai tea!

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super!
Packed with poetic language!
Lovely story!

[Rhian Niblett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tashi lives in a small village near a range of mountains in India. Her mother, aunt and other women in the village walk to the tea plantations in the mountains where they work every day under the watchful eye of the dreaded overseer. When her mother falls ill, Tashi decides to go alone to the plantation as she is worried they will not have enough money for the doctor. However she is too small to pick the ripe crops and gets very upset and goes to the monkeys and tells them her story. Some of the monkeys disappear and return with the tea basket full of ripe tea leaves. Tashi heads back to the plantation with her full basket just in time to see the Royal Tea Taster who is overwhelmed by how good the tea leaves are as it is cloud tea which is very rare due to its location at the top of cliffs, in the clouds. Tashi does not reveal how she got the leaves but agrees to return every year to provide the cloud tea leaves for the far away Empress.

I thought the detailed illustrations really brought this book to life and serve as fantastic visual aids. The characters are very vivid especially that of the Overseer and the Royal Tea Taster. Within the story, there are some really good descriptions, especially of the village where Tashi lives and the mountains. There is also an abundance of metaphors and similes which could be picked out and looked at in detail as part of a literacy lesson.

I think it would be suitable to read to the class in years 2-4. However, for independent reading or for more in depth study (for example as part of topic work) it would be suitable for years 5 and 6.

[Katie Antrobus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cloud Tea Monkeys is a book which explores the story of a young girl named Tashi. She lives with her family in a small village next to the Himalayan Mountains and the tea plantations. When her mother falls ill she is unable to continue to work on the tea plantations. This is when Tashi realises that she must step in to help support her family financially and pay for her mother to seek medical attention. However, this doesn’t go to plan as a cruel overseer refuses to allow her to work on the tea plantations. Tashi is left feeling extremely alone, upset and isolated but to her surprise something amazing happens!

Cloud Tea Monkeys is a brilliant children’s book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It’s full of descriptive language which allows children to create their own visual perceptions of the setting of the text. I feel that it additionally encourages children to explore the aspect of a different culture when the book is either read aloud to them or they explore it on an independent basis. Due to the length of the book and the language used within it, I feel that it’s appropriate for upper Key Stage Two children. It’s a key literacy text which I feel could be used to explore a unit of work with a year five or six class. It’s a text which is appropriate to meet the needs of a range of learning abilities. The language used is extremely descriptive which allows children to use their imagination when reading the story. Each page of the books works as a double spread so that on one side there is a page of written text and on the other a fantastic illustration. Due to the format of the book I feel that it’s therefore suitable for a range of learners. Some of the children will be able to read all of the written text whereas other children will use the illustrations to support them in their language comprehension.

I think that the book could be used in a variety of ways within the classroom environment. It could be contained within the classroom book corner for the children to access on an independent basis but it may also be explored as a key literacy text. A cross curricular approach could be used in which children could write a daily diary entry perhaps from the perspective of Tashi with a focus on her feelings and emotions during the story. This would therefore not only be a literacy focus but would also relate to PSHE. The teacher would then be able to explore feelings and emotions with their class perhaps through a discussion initially with their peers and then through a whole class approach. For some of the learners to be extended during this activity they may be encouraged to tell the story from an additional characters perspective.

Further ideas that would be incorporated using a cross curricular approach include the idea of using Science alongside Literacy. Perhaps for a more hands on approach to learning children may explore the process involved in making tea and then have the opportunity to taste and smell it. They could then produce a piece of writing which explores the use of instructional writing on how to make tea. One further subject that I had in mind was Art due to the brilliant illustrations used throughout the book. Children could use the illustrations to inspire their own artistic creativity, perhaps exploring the effective use of colour to create light and dark features to their own pieces of art.

Cloud Tea Monkeys is an extremely descriptive and imaginative text which can be used to explore ideas in and around different cultures. It’s definitely a text which I’d include on my class bookshelf in the Upper Key Stage Two age phase.

[Linda McCarry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 11th Book Review: Cloud Tea Monkey's
By: Mal Peet,Elspeth Graham,Juan Wijngaard (Illustrator)

I recently had the pleasure of reading this book, and really enjoyed t, it is captivating from page 1. It is a story about a young girl called Tashi, who must go to work at the Tea plantation as her mother has fallen ill and cannot work. Tashi had been going with her mother to the tea field everyday before she got ill and whilst her mother and her aunt and the other women were busy picking tea leaves, Tashi had made some friends with the monkeys high up in the trees who would come down and play with Tashi. So on the day her mother had fallen ill, she steps up and goes in replace of her mother. Tashi is frowned upon, mocked and ridiculed when she arrives, her efforts go unnoticed and the Overseer at the Tea plantation makes a lot of cruel remarks and comments to Tashi saying she simply cannot work there as she is “too young and small”. She is so embarrassed and upset that she runs away to find the mnkeys, and she is so exhausted she ends up falling asleep under the trees. The monkeys take Tashi's basket and climb high up in the mountains above the clouds and when Tashi awakes she sees the monkeys coming back with a basket full of tea leaves for Tashi. She is shocked and so so grateful to the monkeys and brings the basket back and the Royal Tea taster and declares the leaves the best he has ever tasted and Tashi is rewarded with a bag of gold coins and extracts a promise to bring him cloud tea once a year in exchange for the bags of coins. Tashi and her mother were able to live quietly and comfortably keeping the secret of the cloud tea. Based on Himalayan legends that tell of monkeys trained to pick tea. The story flows very smoothly and is rich with beautiful images and has a fairy tale element to it about monkeys and magic. It tells the story of a brave young girls's efforts to help her mother.I think it would be best suited for children in upper KS2 as the language used is slightly complex, it can be used in a cross curricular activities such as History, Geography, PSHE, English and Art.

[Charlotte]

I absolutely loved this book! It is so well wrtitten and the language is so descriptive and imaginative. The story is about a girl, Tashi, and her mother who live below tea plantations in a tiny village. Tashi's mother gets ill and so cannot work on the plantations, so Tashi goes in her place to try earn enough money to pay for a doctor for her mother. The Overseer will not let her work as she is too small and young, so Tashi goes to sit with the monkeys. Now a miracle happens! The monkeys climb up in to the clouds and fill Tashi's basket with the most precious tea- cloud tea. This tea earns her lots of money, which then pays for a doctor to heal her mother. Tashi and her mother never have to work again as one day each year the monkeys pick a basket full of cloud tea which then earns money for Tashi and her mother to live on.
The use of colour and description in this book is amazing- it really makes you feel like you are there and experiencing what Tashi is feeling. Children can really engage with the story due to the wonderfully written in depth descriptions of the scenery and people as well as the beautiful illustrations. There are many cross curricular links that can be explored within the story and can stem to create a scheme of work relating to the book- such as geography, history, art, literacy and many many more.
It is an excellent book and I would recommend it to anyone, especially year 4 and upwards.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

“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.”

Why do bees buzz? How does thunder shake, rattle, and roll? Where does the best tasting tea come from?

I have always adored legends, myths, and tall tales. They add a dash of magic to the why, how, and where of the “simple” things in life. For me, the little things are what add up to make life magical!

This book combines gorgeous words and descriptions, dastardly characters, a headstrong little heroine, monkeys, and breathtaking, finely detailed illustrations that come together to form a beautiful tale of magic, strength, and wonder!

I highly recommend this touching tale of tea! :D

Til we meet again, Mal Peet. This first impression definitely left me wanting more!

[Elleke · Rating 4 out of 5]

a cute little story about tea picked by monkeys.

[Stuart Willy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cloud Tea Monkey’s – Mal Peet & Elspeth Graham (Illustrated by Juan Wijngaard)
Tashi’s mother works on a tea plantation and they live together in a small hut. As a small girl, when her mother becomes ill, Tashi is not best placed to try and make ends meet. Or pay for a doctor However, she gamely tries by dragging the heavy tea collecting basket to the plantation but when the greedy overseer mocks her in front of her aunt the future looks bleak. Just at this point she meets some monkeys she has long since watched and they offer a helping hand that is neither expected nor predictable.
This book is written with great care and precise, detailed description appealing to all the senses. Intrigue and mystery are delicately managed and fed to the reader while always leaving you feel as if there was more to be said or told which fires the imagination. Juan Wijngaard’s accompanying illustrations add to the sense of mystique with the mist laden mountains, attention to detail and earthy colours. I would suggest this book is most suitable for upper key stage 2.

I would recommend this book as one for whole class or group reading and then it could be used to introduce a number of activities in different subject areas, as suggested below:
• The artwork in this book would be used as a catalyst for work around drawing or painting nature.
• The story could be used as an introduction to a history topic around how many of the things we take for granted were discovered and brought back to Britain
• The issue of child labour and fair trade could be discussed both through geography or PSHE.
• Using tea as the focus, a cross curricular investigation into the production and distribution of tea could be carried out including fair trade issues.
• Children could write reviews on different teas for varying magazines practicing different styles for audience.
• An activity with different groups doing a hot seat with different characters from Tashi, to the overseer to the lead monkey to find out their feelings and motives.
• A treasure hunt activity where different groups go out and follow directions to find different hidden jars of tea could lead into the groups producing verbal or written reviews of the tea they have found using all senses: smell, touch, sound when crushed and taste when made. This would allow students to make the tea too.
• This writing could be used as an introduction to, or model for detailed description and the value of carefully chosen vocabulary to create effect.

[Nikita Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated captivating book. The story is about an innocent young girl, Tashi whose mother is unwell. Out of her kindness she strength she goes to work where her mother would usually work, at the plantation. Here she is working under the watchful eye of the Overseer who is depicted as a resented character as he is humoured by her attempt to work at the plantation. Regardless of this, Tashi goes off to work and is met by a group of monkeys who help her. A twist of magic leads the monkeys to go and pick tea leaves for her while she rests. When she wakes up she sees a basket full of fresh tea leaves, better than she has ever seen before. When she takes these back to the Overseer, everyone is taken by surprise. It happens to be that today is the day the Royal Tea Taster is coming to assess the tea grown in this plantation. He looks through everyone’s baskets but is not impressed until he reaches Tashi’s basket. He is taken by awe and says it is the best tea he has ever had. He then takes the basket of tea and hands Tashi a bag of gold coins. He then goes on to tell her that he will be returning each year to collect tea from her and in return he will pay her with coins. Tashi runs back home and pays a doctor to see her mother who then gets better.

This is a remarkable story of inspiration and dedication. It shows how you can achieve something if you truly believe you can do it. In some way or another, you will achieve it.

This book can be used in Literacy for a ‘Big Write’ in years 3 and 4. Children can start off by reading the book and brainstorming information about the characters that they will use in their big write to describe a chosen character. They can then do a hot-seating activity where students act as characters and others ask them questions. Following this the children can plan their writing and finally do the ‘Big Write’. This allows for imagination, creativity and inference as children take on the perspective of the characters.

[Nasrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the striking features of this book are the beautiful illustrations which are so detailed and expressive to readers. It captures the essensce of the book through the pictures. The main character in this book is a girl called Tashi who lives in a village, near the Himmaly region of India. Tashi shares a good relation with the monkeys who sometimes tease her, however when a problem arises in Tasho's life, we find it is the monkeys who come to support Tashi.
This book is suitable for upper key stage two, such as years 5 and 6. One of the main reason being the descriptive language. It focuses on the daily jobs Tashi carries out which is tea plantation. It has many similes and metaphors some which can be difficult to grasp for lower ability children. I think this book would be great to use in terms of cross ciricular. You have lots of geography there in terms of the location of India, you get children to explore the contrasting regions in India. Lots of PHSE areas to discuss as well as getting children to think about how financial stability affects social life. Tashi is young so the children can relate to her and be questioned why tashi is not in education. In terms of science you can explore the roots of how tea plants are made and eventually turns into an end product of Indian 'chai' (tea). The book uses a lot of expressions therefore you could get children to write a diary from the perspective of one of the charactes, not just Tashi but perhaps the monkeys feelings to Tashi. I think this book will therefore be great to use at school perhaps even for a whole term as there are various topics which can be explored with your class.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tashi lives in a small village with her mother who works at a tea plantation. When her mother falls ill it is up to Tashi to go to work at the tea plantation to earn money to pay for a doctor. Tashi manages to carry the heavy tea basket to the plantation, only to encounter the angry Overseer who mocks her attempt to pick tea as she is far too small to reach the tops of the bushes. Tashi is left felling upset until the monkeys come, take her basket and climb high above the clouds to pick her the very best tasting and most precious tea the empress has ever had.

This book would be best suitable for upper key stage two, however, it could also be read to a year four class and high ability year three as it has beautiful illustrations which help tell the story. There are lots of opportunities for cross curricular work such as in Geography by looking at developing countries, child labour and fair trade.

This book could also be used as part of a topic in Literacy on Myths and Legends or when teaching descriptive writing as the story contains some great similes and metaphors. Other possible activities could include:
• Writing a News Paper article on the discovery of the tea.
• Creating an advert for the ‘best selling’ tea in the world.
• Describing the mountains where Tashi used to go to meet the Monkeys.
• Tea tasting and smelling activity.
• Character analysis and Hot seating – interview with Tashi and the Overseer.
• Writing a fact sheet on tea picking in China.
• Writing a letter to the Oversee.

[Nicola O · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is set in a small village in a faraway land where a young girl named Tashi lives. Tashi’s life is one day transformed when her poor mother falls very ill. The people in Tashi’s village grow tea leaves, which is their lively hood and when Tashi’s mother fell ill she had no other choice but to go and pick tea leaves, however, she struggled greatly. One day she was at the foot of the mountains feeling down, and then large monkeys took her heavy basket and climbed high into the mountains above the clouds. Later, they returned with a basket full of beautiful tea leaves which were better than any Tashi had ever seen before. On her return from the mountains she met the great Emperor’s Royal Tea Taster, he was searching for the most exquisite leaves across China. When he tasted the leaves he was amazed gave Tashi a bag of gold coins as payment, which she used to help her mother to recover from her illness. This is a lovely story which could be used in literacy for year 4, 5 or 6. Children could write diary entries and discuss how they felt or they extend the story and create a new ending. You could also make a cross-curricular link with Geography from this story; you could discuss the importance of fair trade products. You could also research what transport is required for this product to travel from China to the UK. The book has been illustrated beautifully and could be used in an art lesson too. Overall, I would recommend reading this book the story is lovely and is based on a century’s old myth.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cloud Tea Monkeys is a beautifully illustrated and descriptive story about tea-picking in the Himalayas and a legend which surrounds this trade. The story has been inspired by 'tea-picking tales... found from the high mountain countries of the Himalayan region - where the finest tea grows'. Within the story character description is rich and the story is compelling, whilst being complemented by a wealth of illustrations that are rich and colourful and portray amazing landscapes and characters alike.

Teaching Point:

This story is ideal for both KS1 and KS2 children.

KS1 would benefit from having the story read to them and the beautiful illustrations on a visualiser or interactive whiteboard. the story and illustrations would engross capture the children's attention and imagination, whilst also providing some insight into another culture and way of life.

KS2 would benefit from the above whilst also being able to take smaller segments of the story and use that for a range of activities. The story could be used in order for children to develop character descriptions, use inference skills and write segments of the story which are not described, consider the aspects of different cultures and much more.

Cloud tea monkeys is a lovely story and a fantastic visual and descriptive resource; a must read for all.

[Caren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has the feel of a folk tale in a wordy picture book format. It is not clear exactly where the story takes place, although the authors' note at the end says it is somewhere in high mountain countries of the Himalayas. The clothing depicted in the beautiful illustrations appears similar to clothing worn in India or Pakistan. The story concerns women who pick tea leaves on tea plantations in the mountains. Tashi, a little girl who spends the day near her mother as her mother fills a basket with tea leaves, finds some shade from the midday sun in a rocky glade near the fields. She is befriended by a group of monkeys with whom she shares some fruit from her lunch. Tashi's mother is ill with a cough that is "hard and sharp like a stick breaking". One day she is too ill to go to work and Tashi takes her place. But Tashi is too small to reach the top of the tea plants where the best leaves grow and the bad-tempered overseer upends her tall basket in scorn. She retreats to the glade with her monkey friends and sobs. How the monkeys help her is the climax of this lovely little story. The authors are a British husband/wife team. Mal Peet has won a Carnegie medal for a YA novel, "Tamar". The exquisite illustrations were done by Juan Wijngaard.

[Mehzabein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story follows a young girl named Tashi and her mother who picks tea leaves in the tea plantations until one day Tashi's mother falls ill. Tashi worries that her mothers absence from work will mean money will be an issue so she decides to take matters into her own hands. Mal Peet writes a fascinating fable story with themes of friendship and special things such as tea embedded within it. I really enjoyed this gentle story. Personally, I think this would be an excellent story to read to year 3-4 children whether it is part of a series of literacy sessions or read during story time. Within the story, I spotted some really good description, metaphors and similes which could be picked out and looked at in detail with the children and children can attempt to write their own. The pictures within the story provide excellent visuals and would enable children to understand the story better. I did find that when I turned some pages, I read a few words on that page and had to go back to my previous page to see what had been written last as I felt it jumped from one bit to the next. However, as I continued reading, I realised that the story still made sense. Mal Peet, in some ways I felt wrote differently yet is still a good story teller.

[Simone Lavinier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is suitable for both KS1 and KS2 children as there are lessons to be learnt for all age groups and it is an enjoyable read. The illustrations are spectacular, captivating and adds to the richness of the descriptive language used. The tale is set in the Himalayan regions and describes a girl named Tashi, who attempted to take her mother’s place as a tea-harvester due to an unexpected illness. Tashi soon realises that she is too small for the job and is shown no mercy by the Overseer. When Tashi had fallen asleep, monkeys which she had befriended climbed up high in the mountain range and gathered the most sought after tea in the land: Cloud Tea. The Empress was most impressed and offered Tashi wealth in exchange for endless supply of cloud tea. The story has many morals which children can unpick, such as, kindness turning a situation around for the better which can be a discussion point with children of all ages. Many questions and discussions can be developed from this book and even an understanding of tea-harvesting can be explored further. The remarkable descriptions of the characters, in particular the Overseer, coupled with the astonishing illustrations engrosses the reader into seeing how the story unfolds. This book is a must read, for both adults and children!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful folk tale is about a young girl named Tashi who lives at the foot of the mountains. Her mother works on the plantations nearby picking tea leaves. One day her mother falls ill so Tashi decides to take her place and drags the basket to the plantations. The Overseer belittles Tashi and discourages her as she is too young so Tashi goes to rest amoung the shadows of the Cloud Mountains. Then a miracle takes place. Monkeys come to her aid, climb up in to the clouds and fill Tashi's basket with the rarest most precious tea in the world- cloud tea. This tea earns her lots of money as it impresses the royal tea taster. Tashi is now able to pay for a doctor to heal her mother. Tashi and her mother never have to work again as one day each year the monkeys pick a basket full of cloud tea which then earns money for Tashi and her mother to live on. This lovely story highlights the differences in people, culture, ideas and lifestyles. I absolutely loved this story and would recommend it to a ks2 class. The beautiful illustrations by Alan Marks really stood out for me and made the story come to life. There are also many cross curricular links that can be explored from reading this beautiful picture book.

[Gemma Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Tashi and her mother who live on a tea plantation in India. When Tashi’s mum falls ill, Tashi goes along in place of her mother to pick tea and try to earn money to pay for a doctor. The plantation owner ridicules her and sends her away. Tashi tells her problems to a group of monkeys that she has befriended and somehow at the end of the day, her basket is full of beautiful, fresh tea leaves, a rare type of tea known as ‘Cloud Tea’. Not wanting to spoil the story, suffice to say that this turn of events leads to some good fortune for Tashi and her mother.

In my opinion, the characters and the illustrations (in particular the facial expressions) really capture your attention. I went on to discuss this with colleagues and we decided that this could form the basis of cross curricular literacy lessons for at least a week and maybe even for a half term for Years 5 or 6.

A delightful book which stayed with me long after finishing it. I felt it had a real spirituality to it which comes across through the words but it is the illustrations which really bring this tale to life.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on old traditional tales from the past about tea-picking this story is of the most special tea in the world - 'cloud tea'.

This tale is of a little girl names Tashi and her mother who works in a tea plantation picking the tea leaves. This is until she falls ill and Tashi takes it upon herself to do her mother's work so she can pay for a doctor. She goes to the tea plantation but is soon belittled and laughed at by the tea plantation Overseer as she is too small to reach the good leaves at the top. Disappointed, Tashi takes herself under the trees near the monkeys. She tells the monkeys her predicament and falls asleep. What happens next will change the lives of Tashi and her mother for the better.

A lovely story which I found very understated in the way it’s written but you could get a small glimpse into the lives of people undertaking manual labour. I would think this book would be great for a Geography or History lesson for upper KS2 about where tea comes from and can extend to discussions on poverty surrounding the story of Tashi.

[Kervin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good illustrated book telling a tale about a little girl named Tashi who lives with her mum in the foothills of a mountain where there are tea plantations. She accompanies her mother to the plantations where she works and mingles with monkeys whilst her mum is picking the tea. One day her mother falls sick that she cannot go to work. Tashi goes to the plantations in place of her mother but the overseer ridicules her. However with the help of her friends the monkeys she is able to have a large collection of tea which when tasted by the Royal Tea Taster impresses them and she earns lots of money for it.

This book is suitable mainly for KS2 starting with year 4's where they can use it for comprehension and also to inspire them for practicing creative story writing. Due to it's setting, illustrations and vivid story telling teachers could also exploit it's cross-curricular links. For year 3 and KS1 the teacher could read the story to the children and try and challenge their imagination.

[Colleen Mckenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cloud Tea Monkeys tells the tale of Tashi, a young girl who lives with her mother in a small village. Tashi’s mother picks tea for a living from the local tea plantations however she is taken sick. In order to raise the money to pay for the doctor Tashi goes to the plantation to pick tea instead, however she is too small to reach the tea and is turned away by the plantation owner. To Tashi’s surprise she gets some help from the monkeys high in the mountains where she lives and this changes the life of her and her mother forever. One of the most striking features of this book is the beautiful illustrations which really capture the reader’s imagination of both the landscapes and the characters. I think this book would provide a great starting point for discussing the differences between children’s lives and cultures or a class history project. This book would be suitable for children aged 8+ but even younger children could appreciate the spectacular illustrations.

[Fatheha Begum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful picture book about a girl in a tea growing country (India) whose mother is sick. The girl goes to pick tea leaves for the overseer instead of her mother but he turns her away. As she cries, some monkeys take her tea basket and go high in the mountains, above the clouds and bring her the very best tea,something very precious and rare, for which the tea taster for the empress pays her kindly.From then onwards every year the empress expects Tashi to bring him the cloud tea.Will the monkeys help her on this journey?Will her secret ever get out?

It touches on the very fact that many of the simple things that we can buy easily from the shops and very cheaply today ,was once very rare and hard to get.such as spices,salts,sugar,cocoa and others.
an extraordinary tale which has been presented with great description and detail;imagery and beautifully written.a great book to explore within Literacy for KS2 which has sever cross-curricular links to History,Art and Geography.

[Maeve Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book about a young girl called Tashi who one day, must go to work instead of her mother as she is ill. Tashi is mocked and ridiculed for her efforts, by the Overseer at the Tea plantation, who she depicts as a cruel man. She is on the verge of giving up and goes to her usual hiding place with the monkeys, who take her basket and climb high up the mountains above the clouds. At this point Tashi has given up and rests in this place for a while when all of a sudden the monkeys come back with a basket full of tea leaves for Tashi. She brings the basket back and the Royal Tea taster declares the leaves the best he has ever tasted and Tashi is rewarded. This a lovely story with rich, descriptive language and beautiful, eye catching illustrations. I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it for upper key stage 2 as the language may be slightly complex for lower key stage 2, however, they may still enjoy it as a book read to them by their teacher.

[Hannah]

This is a lovely book with excellent writing and beautiful illustrations. The descriptions are fantastic: "he looked like a man whose brain was on fire" was a favourite of mine! This would be a brilliant story to read aloud to children of 6-7 because although it is long for a read aloud book and uses challenging vocabulary, it is good for children to be exposed to advanced language and they will be captivated by the illustrations.

I would like to use this books as a 'springboard' with older children. You can make cross-curricular links to PSHE in relation to poverty, worrying and child carers (as Tashi worries about her mother being sick and how they will pay for things if she isn't working) and in relation to Geography as a window into India- it's landscape and industry (tea plantations). The rich imagery would also be an excellent starter for a literacy lesson on simile and metaphor.

[Tharema Alim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book during PGCE English lesson and when it was placed on the table I just could not wait to get the chance to read it. I felt like a little girl in a candy shop just waiting for the moment to dig in to read it. I think the front cover of the book is so mysterious and so is the title which gets you thinking what it could be about. Once given the chance to read the book it was such a wonderful read filled with so many similes and metaphors, it had such rich language that made reading it so wonderful and imaginative. I think this book could be used in a year 5 or 6 class and can be used cross - circularly such as English, PSHE, PE, History, Art and Maths. For example for English you can get children to explore themes within the book or get them explore letter writing. Overall I really enjoyed the book and I think it is a great book to use within schools for children to explore.