Review: The Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Kikko sets out after her father with a forgotten pie for Grandma. When she arrives at a strange house in the wintry woods, a peek in the window reveals that the footprints Kikko had been following did not belong to her father at all, but to a bear in a long coat and hat! Alice in Wonderland meets Little Red Riding Hood in this charmed tale.

MY TAKE:
The premise of this book intrigued me a lot.

In The Tea Party in the Woods, Kikko goes after her father to deliver a pie that was meant for her grandmother. Along the way, she stumbles upon a tea party held by forest animals.

The comparison to Alice in Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood was spot-on. They also had the same sort of dark vibe that had me expecting a Grimm's fairy tale twist somewhere in this book. Thankfully, there were no scary or sad twists here. This is really a sweet book about a young girl and her new animal friends.

Though I wasn't a fan of the font used, I really liked the illustrations in this book. I'm not sure what medium was used but it looked to me a little bit liked what you'd get if you use crayons or oil pastel on canvas or rough paper. It's actually quite pretty. I also liked the way that the illustrations were done in black and white except for Kikko or some parts of an object. It emphasized whatever it was that was in color, as well as stressed the fact that this happened in winter.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the e-ARC.

THE GOOD:

1. It's a sweet, happy story.
2. The animals are friendly.
3. The illustrations are beautiful. 

THE BAD:

1. I kept expecting a dark twist, and while I was happy there wasn't any, some may actually expect a dark turn and be disappointed that there's none. 

READ IT IF:

1. Your child likes tea parties.
2. Your child likes animals.
3. You like beautiful illustrations.

RATING:


SOUNDS INTERESTING?