By Molly Idle
Viking Books for Young Readers, 2013
Picture book, 40 pages, ages 2-4
When hosting an afternoon tea, good manners are essential. Particularly if your guest is a lovable, bumbling T. rex! When you serve tea, accidents can happen. The mayhem that Rex causes is silly and adorable, with a sweetly satisfying ending.
A tea party + dinosaur = a delightful comedy of manners.
With quintessentially adorable characters and soft colors, Molly Idle’s delightfully ironic illustrations contradict her prim-and-proper prose. And in that clash, she has struck gold. Rex means well, and we’re rooting for him even when we hope that all his earnest efforts won’t succeed.
Is the book too cute and sweet? Perhaps. It might not be to edgier readers’ tastes. However, it’s that sweetness that allows Idle to get away with having a dinosaur repeatedly put a child’s beloved teddy bear in peril. And for the reader to be okay with it. The cuteness makes the reader feel safe and allows them to enjoy the humor.
Molly Idle (Caldecott winner for Flora and the Flamingo, Pearl, People Don’t Bite People) has long been one of my favorite illustrators, and Tea Rex ranks near the top of her books for me. While it lacks the indefinable je ne sais quoi of Flora, it has an old-fashioned charm all its own. Even in her simple, stylized compositions, there are plenty of details that add to the story.
It’s a wonderful example of story pacing, plotting, and planning. And while most readers probably won’t pay attention to it, the thoughtfulness that went into its creation is what allows us to sit back and enjoy the story.
Tea Rex by Molly Idle gets 5 stars from this reviewer.