Tea Leaves [Hardcover]

Frederick Lipp (Author), Lester Coloma (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 33 pages
• Publisher: Mondo Publishing (November 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590349989
• ISBN-13: 978-1590349984
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,019,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Author Fred Lipp Does it Again!, March 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Tea Leaves (Hardcover)

As a teacher and a parent I am always searching for books that will expand children's world view. Lipp's first book The Caged Birds was one of the most moving, poetic children's books I have ever read. It brought to life another world, yet its themes were totally accessible to American children and adults. I have been hoping this author would write another book soon and was so excited to get my hands on a copy of his newest gem, Tea Leaves. The little girl who is the central character in the book lives in Sri Lanka. Her story takes us to the tea gardens where women toil for our relaxing cup of tea, to the school Shanti attends and finally on a train to the sea which she has always longed to see. Buying the book is like buying a ticket to an exotic place. Lipp also subtly shows us the less romantic limits poverty can place on so many people. What I like most about this book is how it makes me want to appreciate the simple joys of life with more enthusiasm. Shanti soaks up with all her senses every part of the sea so that she can return to the mountain and tell her mom about it. I am left feeling like I too should soak up all the amazing things I take for granted each day. So few books now a days have this level of sensitivity and poetic appeal, I wanted to spread the word. Get your copy for your class or family and pick up Caged Birds too if you haven't already read it!
PS. This would be a great book to read in a creative writing unit on using all the senses.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tsunami - Indian Ocean - Sri Lanka, January 11, 2005

By 

Frederick Lipp - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tea Leaves (Hardcover)

TEA LEAVES is an example of one little girl's desire to see the sea. She lived in Sri Lanka where after Christmas the deadly towering wave called, Tsunami struck. Shanti found a way on a calm day to visit the Indian Ocean for the first time. "She folded her hands together to make a cup, and dipped her cupped hands into the great sea...Shanti danced. She jumped up and down in the sea. Once, a wave tipped her over. She drank a whole mouthful of water and came up a little surprised - and a little frightened." This little book is now dedicated to all the Sri Lankan children, and families lost on the day after Christmas. Shanti could never have guessed the warning in her uncle's words, when she asked about the sea: "Uncle Nochi told me that on calm days the sea is flat like the palm of your hand, but when there's a storm, waves grow up as big as our mountains." As the author of TEA LEAVES, I encourage teachers, parents and children to read this book as an offering of hope in Camus' words "While unable to be saints, but refusing to bow to disaster, strive utmost to be healers."

Author, Frederick Lipp, Alna, Maine

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A hit with first graders, October 5, 2004

By 

D G (Somewhere near Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tea Leaves (Hardcover)

I was so please to find this book, as I am Sri Lankan and wanted a book to share with my child and friends. The quality of the illustrations, especially the rich colors were to me evocative of the textures of my first home. The story is simple, and no pretense is made about the hardships faced by Shanthi's mother, who works on a tea plantation in the mountains of Sri Lanka. She has no ambition to see the ocean herself. But, she does wish more for her daughter, and manages to arrange the trip for Shanthi. Every aspect of this trip is breathlessly anticipated and fully experienced by Shanthi, in Mr. Lipp's words including the first magical view of the ocean.

I gave this book to my son's first grade teacher, to read to the class, after I had talked to them about Sri Lanka. The kids had the story read to them at the end of the day. When the time came to go home, the kids insisted she finish the story, and they listened with rapt attention, even though the rest of the school was pouring through the hallways on their way home on a Friday afternoon. The teacher loved the book herself and plans to share it with all her kids.

I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy this book as we did.