Teenager Who Came To Tea

by Emlyn Rees and Josie Lloyd

The Teenager Who Came to Tea [Hardcover] Emlyn Rees; Josie Lloyd and Gillian Johnson

Genres: Picture Books, Comedy, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Reviewed on www.whisperingstories.com

The Teenager Who Came to Tea for anyone who hasn’t noticed is a spoof book for adults based on Judith Kerr’s children’s book ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea. In this story, the doorbell rings and Sophie and Daddy wonder who it is, maybe it’s a tiger. Alas no, just Sophie’s big teenage brother who is hungry.

For anyone who may have read The Tiger who Came to Tea over and over again to their children or for those of you that have teenagers, this book is for you. Although being the mum of two teenagers (and another who has been through the teenage years), I’m just glad mine haven’t ever eaten the way this lad does, nor ever left the bathroom in the state he did. I think I must be very lucky!

The book was a lot of fun to read but I stopped short at laughing-out-loud. It was a short, enjoyable read with some fab illustrations, I liked the teenager’s tiger jacket and teeth. The book is complete buffoonery and light entertainment. It will take you all of five minutes to read it. It is the type of book that you would buy relatives with teenagers for their birthday or Christmas to make them smile, maybe even a Secret Santa Present!!

Overall, if you like parody books then this will be right up your street.

[Manny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ageist crap, my inner teenager is offended. He tells me he was never like this! Also, I felt so guilty after reading it at the bookshop (took all of five minutes) that I bought another book to expiate my imagined sins, then got told off by Not who was sure we could have found it elsewhere at half the price.

When I check now on Abebooks, it seems she was a bit pessimistic: as far as I can see we've only lost about five AUD, and the book I bought is in fact one I've been meaning to get for a while. But my relief is not enough to warrant giving Emlyn Rees a second star. Next!

[Gemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually hilarious. We have loved a tiger who came to tea forever, and this parody is just fantastic .

[Sara Eames · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these parodies. If you grew up (or brought your children up) reading The Tiger Who Came to Tea then this is just the book you need. A very quick read - just over 20 pages - this is a lighthearted and fun parody of a children's classic.

[Layla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny book 📚

[Olivia Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious

[Ellie Brittain]

The story is told from the perspective of a child looking up at her teenage brother, with his visits to her house for tea. The teenager is seen to have fangs, almost depicted as a foreign being.

It is a different take on the original story of "The tiger who came to tea".

The words link well with the character of the teenager, as well as the comical and current references e.g. Nandos

Prior experiences that the reader need to bring to the text: Perhaps of knowing the stage of puberty when you become a teenager and the stereotypical character traits. Maybe children who have older siblings would relate more on this level, but still a comical read for all.

This would be brilliant to read aloud to a class, as there are many opportunities to use different voices and act out the characters. The speech helps this, as whenever the teenager speaks "allthewordsaretogetherlikethis" as if he has mumbled his words so quickly that there wasn't space for a breath. Opportunities for shared reading would be limited perhaps, with the speech of the teenager, if it was a younger class, they might struggle to read that type of speech, but a short enough read for a shared reading lesson.

The text for guided reading would be brilliant to try and understand how each of the characters are feeling. There are both the perspective of Daddy and Mummy, little sister as well as the teenager. Other opportunities to teach children intonation and different voices, could help children with knowing when speech starts and finished with looking out for speech marks.

Perhaps, not the best model for writing… as there is a danger for the children not to use space in between words, but from other perspectives, such as speech. This could be great to encourage children to use different voices and characters within their descriptive writing.

This could be used for a lesson in:

English:
- for use of voices.
- Building characters and their personalities through speech and actions.
- Proper nouns (as lots of places are mentioned).

PSHE:
- Puberty.
- Feelings and emotions.
- Chance to explore empathy.

[Bluebelle-the-Inquisitive (Catherine) · Rating 3 out of 5]

And Daddy asked, 'How was your day?'
But the teenager pushed past him saying, 'YeahlikewhateverImstarvingOK?'

Warnings: none

This is cute and a smart parody but it hasn't aged particularly well. When talking about socials, authors Lloyd and Rees mention Vine, a social media that has been dead for years (between October 2016 and January 2017). But at the time this was written 2015 Vine would have been near the height of its popularity, giving Tiktok vibes. Substitute Vine for Tiktok and it does still work so well. I was never this teen, I was the nerd. I was much more likely to be reading in my corner rather than socialising and I was not massively liking food. But I know from talking to colleagues that their kids, particularly sons, were like this. As I said smart parody. It keeps our young protagonist as a girl, makes her mother a badass female role model and acknowledges the broad changes since 1968 when Judith Kerr's When the Tiger Came to Tea was written. I like it.

Gillian Johnson has done a stunning job with the illustration. Even something as simple as her cover is a perfect homage to the cover by Kerr. Her inter-spreading of lines that are what the teenager is saying is smart, they are quotes are treated as such. I really like the teenager's design. He feels right, that level of disrespect for family and appearance that is a perfect tone for the tiger-like tone presented to his family. The mother is brilliant and I adore her, her styling is perfect for the time. Look it won't be for everyone, and if I'd realised how old the book was I probably wouldn't own it (impulse buy) but it is good for a laugh if you remember when it was written.

A representative gif:

[Alex Craigie · Rating 5 out of 5]

We've had a copy of Judith Kerr's The Tiger Who Came to Tea for years now, and it's become a Christmas tradition to read it every Christmas. The Teenager Who Came to Tea is a parody - and if you have active teenagers going through growth spurts, you'll really appreciate the humour in this one. It manages to capture the mayhem and charm of the original and bring it right up to date. Now that the children are older, I can see this one being read every Christmas too!

[Sheena-kay Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in one sitting and loved it. The story was hilarious and a wonderful showing for a parody. Poking fun at something without looking down on the object within the joke. Kids can enjoy this as well as adults like myself who are fans of these stories despite being grown. A timeless modern-day comedy within the pages of a book.

[Rowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original of this wasn't something we had at home when I was a child, but I do remember it being read at school once or twice. This very funny parody is a book I can almost see being read to children alongside the original.

[Bookworm Blogger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has opened my eyes to when my boys are grown up! I think I might need a lock on my kitchen, or maybe I'll invest in my own secret stash of food so I don't go hungry. A great read with a lot of humour and very accurate.

[Niamh · Rating 5 out of 5]

brought me back to my early childhood years, with a humorous and more relatable twist. I highly enjoyed this book.

[Helen Charles was gell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it fun and laughter all the way through

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant

[Paige Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun.

[Recommended Storie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading the Tiger Who Came to Tea as a child and bought it for my children who also love it.
When I found this book in the charity shop this morning I couldn't walk away without it.
I'm so glad I picked it up, brilliant parody, so true! Can't wait to share it with my children.

[Fae Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My youngest sister wanted to read these retellings of classic kids' books to my other sister who hasn't read them. I enjoyed this one the most.

[Lyns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny.

Need a teenage girl version.

[Bob Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very amusing parody of a book I love reading to my kids.

[Sue Hickling · Rating 5 out of 5]

😁

[Lemurkat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these parody picture books. This one was a real hoot.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

So funny! And so true!

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever read The Tiger who came to tea by Judith Kerr then you will appreciate this one. A parady that you could almost see as real life. (I think I actually know this family) Brilliant fun, loved it.

[Abdur-Raheem Modan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hilarious little book

[Aamina]

This was fun AND it was less than 20 pages so I read it in a shop oops.