Lambert, Megan Dowd. April & Mae and the Tea Party: The Sunday Book. Briana Dengoue, Illus. Easy Reader. Every Day with April & Mae Series; bk. 1. Charlesbridge, 10/2022. 48pp. $12.99. 978-1-58089-886-7. HIGH ADDITIONAL. GRADES K-2.
SERIES REVIEW: Best friends April, who is outgoing, and shy Mae are featured in this series of easy readers, each focusing on a day of the week. The first concerns their Sunday tea party, where Mae bakes and April juggles, but an accident breaks Mae’s teacup. Readers will find the girls relatable; April is Black, and Mae has brown hair, but her ethnicity is not clear. The book design features a brief paragraph per page as well as full-color cartoon artwork. The vocabulary is simple, with some repetition, making this a great choice for emergent readers. Other books in the series see the girls at their book club, playing soccer, and helping with the school talent show, all with the familiar formula of friends who are opposites but who overcome small misfortunes.
Penny Peck, San Jose State University, iSchool