Member Reviews
A lovely children's book illustrated beautifully (and with such a charming palette). This lovely story speaks to traditions, slow living, diversity and friendship. Children particularly enjoy books where children have special roles to play and the reward and responsibility of a job well done is at the center of this book. Along the way, readers learn about blacksmithing and tea traditions.
My Review: This book originally came to my attention when I was watching Super Space Chick on youtube with her Bookcon haul. I was immediately attracted to it because of the title and the cover, it sounded like something right up my alley. This was a very cute graphic novel, I don't know if it will be a standalone or a series (I really hope it is a series). It is a unique fantasy world with some different traditions and history, while not 100% clear was still filled out enough to enjoy the current storyline. The illustration in this book is stunning, I loved the cute style and no-line coloring that softens the edges and gives it a more mystical appearance. The characters and story are so perfect for me, I loved them all and I so want a tea dragon now!!
So precious and cozy and utterly enchanting! Heartwarmingly queer, gorgeously rendered, and with some great messages about friendship, love, and the specialness of taking the time to do something the long and slow way. This is sentimentality done right- a recognition of the beauty of goodness and tenderness without being eye-rollingly cheesy. This is quite possibly one of the most adorable books I've ever read.
This graphic novel is about the importance of keeping traditions in a fast changing world.
Greta, a little girl learning the art of blacksmithing finds a little lost tea dragon, as she took him back to his owner, she discovers a new traditionnal art and a new culture and of course, she develops new friendships with wonderful people.
The illustrations were amazing, very colourful and very alive, and of course, the best one are the tea dragons (they will make you squeak !)
Little Greta is struggling to learn the blacksmithing trade from her Mama. When she rescues a little dragon cornered by hungry animals on the street, she gets introduced to the last remaining members of the Tea Dragon Society. She eagerly accepts the leader’s invitation to come back and spend more time with the dragons in the future, and in so doing meets Minette, a prophetess in training who lost her memory and has found shelter with the tea dragon people. Greta discovers new friends and learns another new skill as she hangs out with the Tea Dragon Society.
The little tea dragons are adorable. I want one. Great tea plus an adorable dragon! Where can I sign up for this society?! My favorite part of this book is the back with information on tea dragons in general and each type that exists. I was underwhelmed by the “story.” I say story in quotes because really there was no plot. It was Greta meets others and eventually joins the Tea Dragon Society (which you knew was coming the moment you cracked the cover, that doesn’t count as a riveting plot reveal). There was a lot of potential for more depth in the story, like the fact that Greta’s training to be a blacksmith and also learning about the tea dragon tea trade. I thought she was going to have to choose between them, but nope. Not even a hint of conflict there (though she’s definitely got future issues for overcommitting herself if this realistically plays out). I thought there’d be more of a story for Minette and the memory loss, but she finds her way back from the market mostly ok and she makes friends so she’s all good. Really?! They’re not gonna find a tea dragon to help her? I mean the things do store and share memories! It just felt like everything was a shallow setting for the tea dragons. If that was going to be the case, I think I’d have preferred this to be set up more like a field guide to tea dragons or the Tea Dragon Society Handbook. As it was, it had cute and adorable illustrations, introduced a delightful new fantasy creature, and the rest…just felt like fluff with characters that fit a hot action/awareness group to hopefully boost readership: Want a disabled character? Got it. Want a gay couple? Got it. Want a multiracial cast? Kinda got it (multi-species in different skin colors counts, right)? Want someone battling mental challenges? Got it. I'm wavering between 2 and 3 stars. The cute dragons get 5 stars. Plot gets 0 stars. That averages out to 2.5 stars. I’d definitely like more tea dragons please, but with a heaping spoonful of plot next time.
Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill takes you to a place you don’t want to leave. Tea Dragons are dragons that grow herbs or flowers on their heads. When you drink tea made from the herbs of the tea dragons you can see past memories. Honestly, the graphic novel was too short. There is a need for more of this magical place. The illustrations are amazing and the style of drawing has grown popular these days. The style reminds me of the Japanese chibi all the characters are cute and cuddly. You just want them to fit in the palm of your hand and cuddle with it. I can see this graphic novel being turned into a Studio Ghibli movie, it gives you the same feeling once it’s finished.
Adorable! A gentle, cozy little fantasy with an impressively diverse cast of characters. I loved it!
Both story and pictures are adorable in this book! It's obviousbly a children's book but i think adults can enjoy it as well. i did! I think i want to own a tea dragon now. Hoping on eventual sequels
A little girl who wants to learn blacksmithing from her mom finds an injured tea dragon; it doesn’t take long to figure out what that is. Her father knows who it belongs to, and when she takes it back she finds something else she loves as much as blacksmithing.
The girl is a goblin, according to an aside from her mom. The tea dragons don’t look like usual dragons, more like tiny unicorns without the horns. Minette. . . can’t tell what she is, with her tail and hooves—maybe a deer—but she’s really cute, and she has my fave dragon, Chamomile.
“This is kinda relaxing, when they’re not trying to bite your fingers off.” That leads the normally placid teashop owner to snark, “That should have been our slogan.”
Sweet kids, good people, and one bad giant dragon, all there to tell you that memories matter.
The artwork is almost child-like, though with great skill.
Ten pages from the Tea Dragon Handbook to end it.
Well, despite all the very positive reviews for this book, I was a little underwhelmed. For too much of this year-in-the-life of a young girl who is apprenticed to her blacksmith mother, I kept wondering how she was managing to find the time to not only train in that but also in Tea Dragon guardianship, AND to fall in love with a shy girl at the Tea Dragon place. It's ultra-PC, with the gay guy owners and one of them being in a wheelchair and nobody is with anyone of the same colour (or in fact species), so it all gets a little twee and over-bearing, especially as lovey-dovey life lessons take the place of actual plot. Suitably vivid pictorially, and politely interesting for the young, it didn't have the edge I sought.
The Tea Dragon Society was a sweet story about a wonderful realm somewhere near our own. In a world filled with genuine, heartfelt characters and a unique history, a young girl named Greta meets a Tea Dragon. This changes her life forever, and she begins to learn about Tea Dragons, their special powers and temperaments, their personalities, and how to care for them. Beyond this, she meets three wonderful new friends as a result, and there are multiple tear-worthy tales about love, tragedy, extinction, the preservation of tradition, and budding romance between two young people. This is truly a beautiful book I would be happy to purchase, or to give to anyone I know.
Totally adorable story with equally adoring pictures. Obviously aimed mostly at children, but charming enough and with enough depth that I really enjoyed it too. The characters are diverse, kind, interesting and magical... what's not to like?
I want to know more about the Tea Dragon Society, and hope that Katie O'Neill will eventually write sequels and possibly even a prequel. The art work is stunning and I want my own Tea Dragon now!
Very short (it's a children's graphic novel) but VERY cute, with beautiful art and a lovely, understated story. Like Princess Princess: Ever After, The Tea Dragon Society is effortlessly inclusive of multiple sexualities, skin tones, and body types, and would be an excellent book to hand to a young fantasy enthusiast.
As a lover of Princess Princess Ever After, I about squealed with joy when I realized the ARC for The Tea Dragon Society was available! Dare I say I almost liked this better? O'Neill's art is just delightful and downright gorgeous! I can't wait to get this into the hands of our patrons! I want a tea dragon of my own!
This was absolutely adorable and charming! O'Neill has created a lovely story of friendship and keeping tradition alive. It's short but deceptively simple. I really hope there may be a second volume in the future; I'd love to see. I've completely fallen in love with the characters and their tea dragons!
Thanks NetGalley , Katie O'Neill and publishers for providing me with ARC.
I really loved the illustrations and the art work. The story has a refreshing and soothing nature to it. I felt the book came to an end abruptly. I would love to see more of the adventures and the bonding between tea dragons with their owners. If there was more about the previous tea dragon society or more story around the bonding between Greta and other tea dragons , this book would have earned 5 stars from me. The Illustrations are eye catchy . I found myself moving my eyes away from speech bubbles and admiring the art.
May rating is as follows:
Illustrations : 5 star
Art Work : 5 Star
Story : 3 Star
All said, I really loved the time spent with this book. All thanks to 'Kate O`Neill'.
O'Neill has got a lifetime fan in me. I adored Princess Princess Ever After and was not disappointed by this story and its illustrations. Greta is a blacksmith's apprentice who rescues a tea dragon while running an errand. When she returns it to Hesekiel, the tea shop's owner, she discovers not only a second family, but a talent for raising tea dragons.
What a delightful, simple, yet complex story of friendship and love, spun around the craft of raising tea dragons. Oh, come on, you must know about tea-dragons, the tea that comes from them brings memories that the dragons have experienced, that the brew shares with you as you drink it. It is an ancient art, raising them, brewing the tea, and Greta, who is an apprentiace to a blacksmith, wants to learn this craft as well. She does not want to stop being a blacksmith, she finds that important too, but she wants to learn from the being that raises the dragons, his husband Erik, and the girl they have living in their tea house, who has lost most of her memory.
All in all, a sweet, smooth tale, as good as freshly brewed tea.
I love how each dragon produces a different type of tea, and the end of the book goes over those different types, such as Jasmine Tea dragons, and Rooibos Tea Dragons.
Highly recommend it for school, libraries and home. The LGBTQ bit of the book is very underplayed, and is interspeicies, so it might not even be noticed, but it is there. The friendship, however, of Greta and Minette, young prophetese who gave up her memories, is the central theme.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
I enjoyed this book so much! It was just as cute and beautiful as I was hoping for! The artwork is just amazing, and the story is cute and charming.