Greta, part-goblin daughter of a local healer and blacksmith, never knew what a tea dragon was until she rescued little Jasmine from hungry dogs. The dragon belongs
to a reclusive shopkeeper outside of town, one of the last dedicated to keeping the peculiar creatures. As Greta learns more of the tea dragons, who grow memory-infused
tea leaves and flowers on their horns, she makes unexpected friends and learns the true value of traditions in a changing world.
(Note: Older editions list the author as "Katie O'Neill".)
Review
This charming little graphic novel tells a warm-hearted tale with shades of unexpected depth and meaning. As an apprentice blacksmith, Greta finds herself forging
swords that are almost never used anymore, making her wonder at the value of a fading art - a value she only truly appreciates as she learns from tea master Hesekeil,
his wheelchair-bound friend Erik, and the strangely flighty faun-girl Minette... not to mention the little tea dragons themselves and their special brews. The
illustrations are simple yet endearing, and if the story's a little soft and limited in conflict, well, it is essentially a picture book in graphic novel form. It
edges close to my too-cutesy line, but my tolerance admittedly increases in the presence of dragons. An appendix offers more information on the tea dragons, sure to
be a plus for young dragon-lovers - and older dragon-lovers who retain a soft spot for the cutesier draconic specimens.
A small mountain village prepares for an annual festival to honor its tea dragons: miniature creatures who grow leaves and blossoms on their horns that
create memory-infused teas. Young Rinn hopes to become an apprentice chef by the time of the festival, but in the meantime uses a gift for finding mushrooms
to help out other villagers... which is why she wandered into the remote clearing with the dilapidated shrine - and a sleeping dragon! Aedhan had been
charged with keeping up the shrine and watching over the village, but he fell asleep for eighty years and has been forgotten by all but the oldest. As Rinn
tries to help him adapt, the arrival of her bounty hunter uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel - who chase stories of dangerous creatures across the land -
hints that there's more to the dragon's unnatural sleep than mere fatigue.
(Note: Older editions list the author as "Katie O'Neill".)
Review
Like the first Tea Dragon book, this prequel is a (very) light fantasy tale that's more about internal conflicts and growing up than it is about adventure
or violence. Indeed, it's almost too lightweight at times - at least, for grown-ups. (It also wavers once or twice on a border between including diversity and
polishing it like a medal to make sure the reader notices, though maybe it was just the thinness of the tale itself that made it seem this way a few times.)
The conflicts are almost entirely internal, as Rinn struggles to improve at cooking - a long process of learning that just cannot be rushed, impatient as she
grows with herself - and Aedhan wrestles with shame over his dereliction of duty. Almost everything is resolved through talking, friendship, and epiphanies;
the world as a whole seems designed to have no place whatsoever for violence of any kind (save one animal attack), which makes one wonder why bounty hunter
Eric bothers carrying a sword at all (or what the point of bounties and monster hunting is in this place.) The tea dragons themselves mostly sit by the
sidelines and be cute... which, to be fair, is not entirely unlike what they did in the previous Tea Dragon book, though at least then the dragons themselves
- and the lead girl's introduction to them and their fading traditions - formed a significant prong of the story. Here, aside from some minor involvement in
the wrap-up, the tea dragons might have been any cute little critters. They don't even seem to act like tea dragons, as one character points out... a question
that, once raised, is never really answered and seems forgotten. Once again, it ends with an appendix that talks more about the tea dragons, which is the kind
of detail dragon-loving kids (and grown-ups) enjoy.
In any event, looked at from the point of view of the target audience, the art is simple and whimsical, and the story's pleasant, magical, inclusive, and -
with the exception of the aforementioned animal attack, which is quick - most decidedly not dangerous. And, of course, there are dragons. It's difficult
(though not impossible) to go wrong with dragons.
