Picking Tea with Baba - Hardcover

by Xu Bin (Author), Yu Yin (Illustrator), Shan Chen (Translator)

Working in a Chinese tea garden is hard work, but it's rewarding when it's done with family in this 2026 Batchelder Honor Book.

This day-in-the-life picture book for 5-9-year-olds engages the senses as it centers around family and working together while celebrating Chinese culture.

A young boy and his brother travel with their parents up the mountainside to their tea garden for a day of work.

They delight in the animals they see, compete to see who can pick the most tea leaves, take a lunch break, and weather an unexpected rainstorm. At the end of the day, they trek back down the mountain to sell the leaves before going home.

A picture book that awakens the senses, young kids experience a faraway cultural tradition while feeling the familiarity of family and togetherness.

2026 Mildred L. Batchelder Award Honor Book

Author Biography

Xu Bin is an author, editor, farmer, and reading education practitioner. He has published many picture books, including With Bamboo and Bicycle Song.

Yu Yin graduated from the China Academy of Art. The Chinese edition of Picking Tea with Baba won the 2021 Beijing International Book Festival Pineapple Circle International Illustration Award and was selected for the 2021 Bratislava International Illustration Competition.