Picking Tea with Baba [Hardcover]

Working in a Chinese tea garden is hard work, but it's rewarding when it’s done with family in this 2026 Batchelder Honor Book.

This day-in-the-life picture book for 5-9-year-olds engages the senses as it centers around family and working together while celebrating Chinese culture.

A young boy and his brother travel with their parents up the mountainside to their tea garden for a day of work.

They delight in the animals they see, compete to see who can pick the most tea leaves, take a lunch break, and weather an unexpected rainstorm. At the end of the day, they trek back down the mountain to sell the leaves before going home.

A picture book that awakens the senses, young kids experience a faraway cultural tradition while feeling the familiarity of family and togetherness.

2026 Mildred L. Batchelder Award Honor Book♦ 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 falÓé