Tea for Ruby by Sarah Furgeson

Tea for Ruby by Sarah The Duchess of York Furgeson, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

Rating: 3.5 stars

Whenever I see a book at Pottery Barn Kids, I always wonder if it's a good one.  I mean, I am a total sucker for most of the stuff they sell (especially the bedding) so I always suspect that they have some inside scoop on what books are good, too.

But, it turns out, I'll buy more quilts from them than books.

This is a good book on manners, and if you daughter likes the Fancy Nancy series, she'll undoubtedly enjoy this one.  Ruby, the main character, gets a fancy invitation in the mail to have tea with the Queen.  She's so excited she breaks every rule that most little kids struggle with: interrupting others, dressing appropriately, talking with her mouth full, things like that.  She does her best to remember as she strolls into the "palace" gates, only to find, to her delight, that the Queen is actually her grandmother.

There's not much to this book, but the pictures alone hold Lorelei's interest for a few minutes at a time, mostly because of the fancy dresses that Ruby imagines herself wearing when she has tea with the Queen.  I can relate--I remember drawing fancy dresses on my mother's blackboard after school when I was in grade school.  And I was a horseback-riding tomboy! 

This is a sweet book if you're a grandma, and I love the idea of Lorelei having tea with one of her grandmothers a few years from now--at her house or at a fancy place.  Maybe at a house, learning manners, knowing what to expect at tea, is a good warm-up.  This book helps a bit, but it's not our list of books to buy others or ourselves.