Being the only boy and having three sisters must have been tough for my brother in certain ways. While we liked to play with his toys, he usually didn’t like to play with ours. We watched a lot of Disney Princess movies while he was just waiting for his turn to put on his video games.
Sometimes, though, my brother would humor us with our girlie things, and I think that put him more in tune with the perks of being around girls and their interests. However, he always brought his own boy behaviors and attitudes to every “girl activity.”
I thought about this while reading Grizzy Goes to Tea, a picture book by Jaclynn Bosley, which has s similar boy figure navigating a very “girlie” activity in his own boyish way. Below is my review of the book followed by an interview with Bosley. Then, enter to win a copy via the SweepWidget form below!
Grizzly Goes to Tea plot summary
Grizzly Greg lives with his mom, dad, and sister, and he loves to do standard little boy things, like play sports and video games. So, when his mom announces that the family is going out for a tea party, Grizzly Greg is not happy about getting dressed up and using his manners.
When they get to the tearoom, Grizzly Greg is not in a good mood, but as sugary tea, delicious sandwiches, and gooey desserts are served, Grizzly Greg devours each course, making a mess of himself in the process. Despite his lack of manners, his mom is just happy that he learned to love tea parties.
The story
The basic premise of the story is the reward of trying new things. Our surface level opinions of new activities can be very biased, especially when it comes to activities outside our general interests and comfort zones.
From the beginning, the reader is let in on both Grizzly Greg and his sister’s favorite activities. Grizzly Greg’s are traditional boy activities, very concentrated and relegated to physical play and video games. His sister is very active too, and her activities mirror his, though it’s clear that her interests typically have a girlie twist to them. She also loves tea parties, something that Grizzly Greg does not.
So, Grizzly Greg clearly has no desire to go to tea with his family. Though he never explicitly says so, the look on his face and his cross arms make it clear that he is doing this against his will. It’s not until he sees the bowl of sugar on the table that it opens up the possibilities as to how this outing can attract his attention and lead to a good time.
Grizzly Greg ends up making the tea meal his own by ignoring all manners and devouring as much of the good food as he can, leaving crumbs everywhere, including on his face and nice clothes. I thought it was funny how his mom and sisters found it funny while his dad had a look of horror at the state of his son once the meal was over.
Should Grizzly Greg have gotten away with eating like a pig at a nice place? Probably not. But sometimes, we’ll take a bad-mannered boy over a grumpy one if it means the whole family gets to enjoy themselves.
The characters
The story’s characters are relegated to the family of five, which includes Grizzly Greg, his parents, and his sisters. His youngest sister is not even mentioned in the text, but she is prevalent in the illustrations, especially as a companion to the older sister and a much less messy participant in the meal, despite appearing to be the youngest member of the family.
Grizzly Greg’s parents are very good natured, and they try their best to get Grizzly Greg to use his manners to no avail. It’s clear that they know that Grizzly Greg will love all of the food, but they don’t pressure him to try anything or even pretend to like the activity. And in doing so, they watch eagerly as Grizzly Greg’s attitude changes throughout the meal.
The illustrations
The illustrations by Daniel Limon are colorful, action-packed, and have a bit of an Eric Carle feel in their design, though with more movement and detail. I love the characters’ expressive eyes, and eyebrows, which help to tell the story for those who are primarily following the stories by their pictures.
The detail that Limon put into the backgrounds are also impressive, from the grain on the wood paneling of the family’s staircase to the floral print of the tablecloth and chairs of the tearoom. It makes the story very inviting and draws you into the action, the conflict, and its comical resolution.
My recommendation
I recommend Grizzly Goes to Tea to any pre-school to early elementary school reader who loves fish out of water stories with gentle messages and funny conclusions. Is Grizzly Greg a great role model for boys? Not really. But he’s an identifiable one, and I think this story creates some great talking points to discuss with parents or whoever is reading it to or with them.
My rating
Enter the giveaway!
An Interview with Jaclynn Bosley
How long did it take you to write Grizzly Greg Goes to Tea? How many drafts did you go through, and how did the first draft differ most from the finished product?
Grizzly Greg was born out of an actual afternoon tea with my own children. My son was the inspiration for “Greg,” as he reluctantly attended but quickly fell in love with the entire production. He made a mess of himself at the tea, and the whole time, I was saying, “I’m going to write a book about you and the mess you made…”
Throughout the teat, I began “writing” the story by simply verbally proclaiming lines of the future book.
“There were crumbs everywhere! On the fancy table, and on the fancy plates, on the fancy, whirly swirly carpet…”
And after we left the tea, my kids asked me to write it all down. And so I did! It took me a single evening, and I wrote it in a notebook. I read that story from a notebook for two years before submitting the idea to Blue Balloon Books.
Together with the publisher, we made very little edits to the actual text, and the storyline remained fully intact. The drafts exchanged focused mostly on minor grammatic and verbiage changes.
As an educator, what do you most want children to take away from this story? What about the adults that read the book with the children?
I hope that children listening/reading the story take away from the point that it is okay to have flexible thinking and to try something new (even if we aren’t looking forward to it), and we just might be surprised how much we enjoy new experiences! I also hope children find similarities between themselves and the characters in the story, perhaps even if they just identify with the feelings that Greg has throughout the book.
As for the adults reading along, I hope they enjoy the fun nature of the story and the pictures, which really bring the book to life, and that they are able to communicate to the child(ren) they are reading to, the message of compromise and unexpected joy that Greg finds in trying a new experience.
What were your favorite picture books growing up? Did any of them inspire Grizzly Greg Goes to Tea?
As a child, reading books with my mom was/is a core memory for me. It was a cornerstone of my daily routine, and I loved that time spent with her getting lost in the stories and pictures. My favorite included Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!, Miss Nelson is Missing, Caps for Sale, and a lesser-known book, The Werewolf Family by Jack Gantos. That last book I borrowed from my school library on repeat more times than I could probably count.
We loved the ridiculousness of the story and the hilarious pictures so much. When I graduated college in 2003, my mom bought a copy of the book from eBay and gave it to me with a beautiful inscription.
The love of reading, especially children’s books, instilled in me from my mother, surely set the foundation for my desire to write a children’s book. Having one published is a dream come true!
How closely did you work with the illustrator, Daniel Limon? Did you have any special instructions or wishes for the illustrations? Was there anything that surprised you?
Although I didn’t work directly with Daniel (we connected primarily through the publisher), I was able to provide direction and feedback as to the illustrations. The original manuscript included my ideas for what the imagery would look like on the story pages, and when I received the first set of pictures back, I was able to make a few requests for things to be changed/added.
For example, on the page where Greg is daydreaming about his hobbies and what he would rather be doing than going to tea, the thought bubble above Greg’s head includes a sports jersey. I requested that the colors of the jersey be changed to orange and black and the jersey number be 88. These are both tributes to my personal life. Our hometown school colors are orange and black, and the jersey number is my son’s baseball number.
Since Greg is based off my son, I thought this would be a really great nod to my home and family life. I didn’t have any surprises other than how well Daniel really captured the story and brought it to life. The facial expressions of the bears and their overall presence in the story was portrayed perfectly and just brought such charisma and fun to the text.
What is your favorite food to eat at a tea party? Favorite flavor of tea?
When my family goes to tea (which we do often!), my favorite part is always the scones and toppings like whipped cream and lemon curd. My favorite tea flavor is peppermint!
What do you think is the main reason behind why Grizzly Greg did not want to go to the tea party?
Grizzy Greg does not want to go to tea because he thinks he is happiest doing his own preferred activities and is reluctant to try something new, especially when that new thing has been selected by his little sister. The story highlights how Greg’s sister demonstrates flexible thinking, and she likes doing the activities Greg chooses, such as swimming, playing outside, and vide games, but (at first) Greg isn’t as flexible!
Do you have a favorite page?
I love all the pages, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the page where Greg has enjoyed so many sweet treats and sugar-filled tea that he finds himself covered almost entirely in crumbs, and his tummy is so full it’s literally popping the buttons on his shirt! It reminds me of the afternoon tea where the idea of Grizzly Greg was created, and it brings me right back to the moment where my son was covered in crumbs and toppings as evidence of just how much he actually really loved going to tea!
Could we possibly see Grizzly Greg in a future book?
As a busy family of five, we have joked for many years now of several ideas that could be a follow-up. The one we laugh about most often is an idea called Grizzly Greg’s Dad Gets Interrupted.
It came about with my husband working from home and having three little kids running about. As you can imagine, the day is fully of interruptions and not much work gets done. It would be a story of follies and lighthearted accidents that ensue when Dad tries to be focused but the joyful chaos of life has a way of happening anyway. 😊
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