Picking Tea with Baba

♦ A family picks tea leaves on a mountaintop in China.
Mama and the two children (the elder of whom narrates) wake early one morning to accompany Baba to his tea garden. It’s a special treat, as Baba usually goes alone. They eat a filling breakfast in their cramped but cozy home, pack lunches, strap wicker baskets to their backs, and head out. Illustrations depicting their early-morning trek feature foggy landscapes and steep climbs full of wonder. The kids are excited about it all—the bamboo partridges hiding among the plants, the praying mantis they spot, their echoing songs and laughter, the competition to see which of them can pick more tea leaves. It’s tough work and irritating to the skin, but the narrator’s enthusiasm never dims. Even during their lunch break, the kids dart around, picking fruit and fetching water. After a nap, some rain, more partridge sightings, and more work, the sun begins to fall, and a lovely panorama shows families walking down mountain paths with full baskets on their backs. They bring their bags to a bustling tea factory, where the tea farmers line up to sell their harvest. Reminiscent of Diego Rivera’s work, Yu’s artwork, with its bold strokes and earthy colors, lovingly portrays a hardworking farming family. Xu’s text, translated from Chinese, perfectly captures a child’s perspective, acknowledging the characters’ travails while focusing on everyday joys.
A joyful and dignified snapshot of rural family life.
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Adventure, tea leaves, culture and love swirl throughout every page. Baba, Mama and two young boys prepare for their day of picking tea on the mountain. They begin the day with breakfast and travel up the foggy mountain to the tea field. Hours are spent busily picking leaves, singing folk songs and joking around. The brothers find interesting bugs, fetch cool water and experience the unpredictable rain clouds on top of the mountain. The leaves are then sold at the village in front of the tea factory. A wonderful read for elementary students to not only practice gratitude but really start to think about where certain items come from and who does the backbreaking job of allowing us to enjoy things like tea, coffee and other products. The pictures are absolutely breathtaking and highlight the beauty of the village, nature and the family that is working together to make a living. A must read for all elementary students, teachers, counselors and librarians. An educational treasure.
—Children’s Literature

Here’s a book that walks the fine line between shining a light on painstaking agricultural work and romanticizing it. The story, set in China, follows a family of four as they rise early, before dawn, to trek into the hills to the tea garden, where they pick tea leaves and gather them in baskets on their backs. The journey is arduous but beautiful, and the illustrations help readers understand the terrain and life-forms. The family works silently until the adults break out with songs and jokes to make the children laugh and keep them distracted and working. As the sun rises, the heat and sap from the tea stems cause discomfort, which is quickly assuaged by cool spring water and a picnic. Readers will learn where tea comes from before it reaches the stores in pretty boxes, but ultimately, this is a story of a close-knit family that works hard picking and selling tea, finding pleasure in the beauty of their environment.
—Booklist