Dreaming of a day when she’ll have real friends, Whale decides to throw a tea party near Tiny Island, which changes everything, especially when Quail and Snail show up! 5,000 first printing. Simultaneous and eBook. Illustrations. - (Baker & Taylor)

While hosting a tea party for her inanimate rock friends, Whale meets Quail and Snail and invites them to join. - (Baker & Taylor)

Charming and quirky friends Whale, Quail, and Snail have a tea party in this all-new Level 2 Ready-to-Read from award-winning author Erica S. Perl!

Meet a whale named Whale. She spends most of her time exploring the area near Tiny Island, dreaming of a day when she’ll have real friends, not just rock friends. One day, Whale decides to throw a tea party…and it changes everything, especially when Quail and Snail show up! - (Simon and Schuster)

Erica S. Perl is a full-time writer and part-time chicken. She is the author of Chicken Butt!; Ninety-Three in My Family (Reuben Award, Book Sense Pick, Slate Best Book), which School Library Journal called a “comic masterpiece”; and Chicken Bedtime Is Really Early, which received a starred review from Booklist. She lives with her family in Washington, DC.

Sam Ailey is an illustrator, designer, and dog dad based in Southeast London. - (Simon and Schuster)

School Library Journal Reviews

K-Gr 2—Whale lives on Tiny Island with a palm tree, a mango tree, and lots of rocks. Using her imagination, Whale befriends Lumpo, Bob, and Grumpy Gus, rocks that join her for tea. One day, when Whale leaves the tea party to make sand dollar cookies, two more friends who are not rocks—Quail and Snail—arrive on the island, join for tea, and the three enjoy the "best day ever." A Whale of a Tea Party sets young readers up for friendship. In this sweet, imaginative early reader, Perl weaves in friendship's give-and-take with word repetitions and ending sounds. With a cool palette that blends in warm tones sparingly, Ailey's illustrations illuminate the vast loneliness of living on an island and the richness friends can offer. VERDICT This addition reinforces early reading concepts and illustrates the true beauty of friendships new and old.—Jennifer Strattman