How to High Tea with a Hyena (and Not Get Eaten)

K-Gr 3–Madcap etiquette lessons served up with a generous dollop of factual information, this droll title features a cockroach narrator who wants to prepare readers, and the young heroine featured in the story, for a high tea with a hyena. Following step-by-step instructions, anyone can not only host an elegant tea, but will know what is to be served and how to survive hosting a 160-pound hyena for the engagement, complete with gossip and cream buns. This witty title features pencil-like crayon art that was finished digitally and is full of good humor, complementing the funny business launched in the text. The length and level of vocabulary (“tittle tattle,” for example) skew this towards a slightly older audience. Useful for lessons on humor writing or as an engaging activity for an animal research unit, this title would be welcome in libraries where older elementary students enjoy the delights of a witty picture book.