I live a tea dragon-appreciation life. There's just something about them. The Tea Dragon Society remains a favourite of mine, and it's a book I return to on cloudy days when I'm cranky because it's got magical healing properties and always cheers me up. Does that colour my appreciation for The Tea Dragon Festival? Probably not, because it's pretty darn good all on its own.

Rinn, the main character in TDF, is an aspiring cook living in a village where they, obviously, have tea dragons galore. However, one day when she's out gathering ingredients in the woods, she stumbles upon an actual dragon, Aedhan, who's been asleep for eighty years. With help from Rinn's uncle, Erik, and his partner Hesekiel (who we know from TDS) they try to solve the mystery of the enchanted sleep - all while trying to help Aedhan come to terms with all the time he has lost.

While the tea dragons are the most adorable things and all the characters are actual angelic sweethearts who must be protected, what really struck me about this was the use of sign language between the characters. It's obvious in the panels but never intrusive and, you know, "obvious", and in the review copy I received there were several pages about sign language-related things in front of the book (where this will be in the final edition I obviously don't know, but it made me so happy). As someone who is hard-of-hearing, that was just so, so wonderful.

All in all a new favourite pick-me-up of mine - definitely don't miss out on this, guys. Please, for all that is pure and sweet (here I'm thinking specifically tea dragons because let's be real), do not miss out.

"Revisit the enchanting world of Tea Dragons with an all-new companion story to the two-time Eisner Award-winning graphic novel The Tea Dragon Society!

Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep, but Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.

Critically-acclaimed graphic novelist Katie O'Neill delivers another charming, gentle fantasy story about finding your purpose, and the community that helps you along the way."

Last year I read The Tea Dragon Society and not only immediately wanted a Tea Dragon of my own but started following all that the talented Katie O'Neill does. Seriously, follow her on Instagram, buy all her books, you won't regret it!

The artwork is incredible and the story is really cute. I haven't read The Tea Dragon Society, so I was not familiar with the characters, but it didn't really retract from the story. Full review to come soon, but I loved it!

The Tea Dragon Festival takes place in the universe introduced in The Tea Dragon Society (2017) and is a prequel of sorts, featuring two characters from the first book. Taking place in a mountain village called Silverleaf, Tea Dragons are small dragons that live with the villagers; the villagers care for them, even pamper them, and harvest tea leaves that the dragons grow on their bodies. Each dragon is named for the teas they produce: we've previously met Jasmine, Roobios, and Chamomile, and The Tea Dragon Festival debuts some additional dragons: Fennel, Marshmallow, and Mountain Chamomile. 

A girl named Rinn goes into the woods to gather ingredients and discovers a real dragon, fast asleep. Upon waking, Aedhan - the dragon - explains that he was sent to protect Silverleaf, but dozed off. But he's ready for the barley tea celebrations at the next Tea Dragon Festival! The only problem is... the barley tea celebration happened 80 years ago. To lift Aedhan's spirits, Rinn brings him back to the village and introduces him to everyone, including her Uncle Erik and his companion, Hesekiel, who previous Tea Dragon readers will remember. The couple are younger here, and are still in their bounty hunting days; they deduce that the bounty they are hunting - a mysterious forest creature who can put people to sleep for decades. While Erik and Hesekiel seek out the bounty, Rinn includes Aedhan in festival preparations, and endears him to the village - and vice versa. 

This is just a lovely, uplifting story. Katie O'Neill once again gives us a world where diverse characters live and work together in harmony; we have fluid gender identities and diverse characters, even diverse species, living among one another in peace. It's a visually beautiful story, with verdant forest colors and lush landscapes. Aedhan is a shape-shifting dragon who looks stunning, majestic, in flight and shifts into a softer, humanoid form to interact with the Silverleaf inhabitants. Back matter includes a note about tea dragons and dragons, and an Alpine Tea Dragon Handbook, introducing three new tea dragons from the story. A wonderful fantasy that will make readers happy.

I want to start off by saying that the ONLY reason TDF didn't get 5 stars is because I just can't deny that I loved The Tea Dragon Society better. I just think that the plot-line in TDS just gave more. But I still loved this gorgeous little gem and the return of the world of tea dragons!

This story introduces a new MC, Rinn, who is an aspiring cook living in a close-knit village. Who of course live alongside tea dragons. When Rinn comes across a (not-tea) dragon who has been asleep for WAY too long, she becomes a guide and special friend.

Just like its prequel, this graphic novel features some of the most incredible representation. With characters utilizing ASL within their village to include villagers hard of hearing, queer rep left-right-and-center and characters of all colours and sizes this book is so ridiculously heart-warming and inclusive.

In addition the artwork is absolutely to die for. I would happily allow O'Neill to create anything I ever lie my eyes on because this human being has talent!

This is a book that I could easily recommend to anyone, no matter what stage of life they are at. It's just that kind of story.

I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a delightful story I just read. It had good characters, it had a "dilemma" and solution, and it was inclusive!

The graphics is this book are lovely and bold.

I have heard about the Tea Dragon Society for awhile now, I picked it up and read it. Shortly after, this arc appeared! I'm so glad I was able to read this one.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

5/5
What a great, wholesome, lovely book. I loved every bit of it. The world is rich and the characters are all beautiful and interesting, and the backgrounds and scenery are breathtaking.
Katie O’Neill’s art style is the perfect blend of magic and fun. I will never get tired of her tea dragons.
Apart from some problems I found with the ASL bit of her book, this book is a perfect read for those who love magic and tea and the feeling of home.

I am by no means an expert/fluent in ASL (truly I am a beginner), but now because I have to explain myself, it’s uncommon for someone to speak English and sign at the same time. ASL sentences are not formed the same way as English sentences most of the time. So to sign and speak English is a little jarring, for if you signed exactly what you were saying, it would not make complete sense in ASL, as they are 2 different languages. Again, I am not an expert or fluent in the language, but I do believe this to be correct. Usually one person would speak English/sign and another would translate, but I understand that in the constraints of comic form this is a good interpretation.

You can always count on Katie O’Neill to give you the most beautiful art and equally beautiful stories and characters. I loved this one just as much as Aquicorn Cove. The story was amazing and heartwarming, and the characters were so diverse. The entire book was just wonderful. I’m looking forward to reading more of her work!

I was so excited the day I got the email that this was an ARC! The artwork of Katie O'Neill is adorable and stunning again in this delightful tale. Her rich landscape and memorable characters make the Tea Dragon series a bright spot in the Graphic novel world.

Lovely expansion of the world from The Tea Dragon Society. It takes place many years earlier, but you do not need to have read the first book to enjoy this one.

Katie O'Neill is the queen of diverse graphic novels for kids. Such a beautiful story with stunning art to match.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I think my students that enjoy high fantasy, dragons, etc. would really like this series. While I enjoyed it, high fantasy (especially graphic novels) are not my favorite so I thought it was cute but nothing stellar. The illustrations are absolutely adorable.

Super sweet addition to the story, I'm hoping to get my hands on a physical copy soon since the art is just so much better viewed on paper than digitally.
I can't wait to read more stories by Katie O'Neill, they all just fill me with a kind of warmth that brings light to my day.
In this book I love the addition of the full dragons to the sweet friendship of tea dragons.

Just like with The Tea Dragon Society, this was fantastic, Katie O'Neill can do no wrong. I think i enjoyed this even more than the first book. Once again I loved the art work because it's so cute and adorable, and I just fell in love with it. I loved this graphic novel even more than the first one, but I enjoyed this story's plot even more, I felt that there was more of a purpose to the story, and I enjoyed the story's message.
The characters were another aspect that I liked, all of them were great and had a very unique purpose in the story and within the community. I like how the story incorporated sigh language with the character Lesa, and the fact that after she was born the entire village took it upon themselves to learn it so they could communicate with her. This was adorable and I look forward to reading more by the author in the future.

Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I read a comic or a Graphic novel and enjoyed it as much as this one. It seems a bit wrong to call this book a 'Graphic Novel' as it is too short to really qualify as that and, somehow, does not fit the 'Comic' category either.  It lies somewhere in between I guess.

There are various impediments to reading comics/ graphic novels in my mind – the main one being that these books are really expensive and you gobble them up in something like 20 minutes and then are left to twiddle your thumbs. What makes them really worthwhile, more often than not, is the artwork in these books. Splurging on these kind of books becomes justified only when it is a truly beautiful book with a great story that you can look at over and over again.

The Tea Dragon Festival is a sequel to the the very well-received Tea Dragon Society. I had not read the first book before and thus was pleasantly surprised when my request to view this particular book was accepted by NetGalley and the Publishers.

The major problem I had was trying to read this e-book on my laptop. It certainly takes away from the beauty of the illustrations when you are trying to fit a page onto your unwieldy screen and some of the impact that you would have when you saw it in physical book form is certainly lost. I am sure the experience is certainly better for people with i-Pads which lend themselves very well to reading comics and graphic novels.

The art is lovely, of course, in shades of soothing pastels, although done digitally which for me is a bit of a downer as compared to art work done with traditional media. But I have this on good authority from people who are avid readers of this genre that they actually prefer digital art – these people are invariably young!

The story is a sweet one and targeted more towards 12 year old kids, with just the correct amount of mystery, magic and love to entice them in. Also, the cute tea dragons are mainly the backdrop in this book, which deals with another kind of shape-shifting dragon who wakes up after being asleep for decades. It reminded me a bit of the story of Rip Van Winkle, was it?

There are various themes handled in this book, from family, friendship, finding what you are really good at and acceptance. I enjoyed this book certainly and for fans of previous book in this series, this will be another beautiful addition to the set.

I just wish it had been a little longer and  that all the characters had been given more screen time. Since I haven’t read the previous books I have no idea whether they appear in the earlier books and hence need no deeper character development. Also, it took me a while to figure out why the tea-dragons were called tea-dragons in the first place. The beginning of the book was also a bit abrupt, as if the author had simple picked up from where she left off in the last book. The location of the story is also left open-ended in a way, but considering that it is a book for the younger lot a bit more description in the world building would have certainly helped.

All in all, a good book for gifting to little girls. Or boys.

In a sort of prequel to Tea Dragon Society, this book follows Rin, an aspiring cook and excellent forager in the village of Silverleaf. While out searching for ingredients, she happens upon Aedhan, a dragon who has been asleep for the last 80 years.

Much like its predecessor, this comic's story is as warm and rich as the beautiful color palate. We sit back and enjoy Aedhan slipping back into his role as protector of the village. Hesekiel and Erik are the connecting thread from the first book and they're here to work out what kept Aedhan asleep for so long.

You can just curl up with these books and you get the feeling of wandering barefoot through a lush forest. They're so calming and beautiful and not a bit boring despite not being chock full of sword-swinging or magical battles. A joy to read multiple times. 5 out of 5.

I just adore Katie O'Neill books. The book is beautiful, peaceful, whimsical, enjoyable and inclusive.

I LOVE this graphic novel. Not only do we have a number of humanoids in all shades of the rainbow, but we have LGBTQ+ rep and ASL used throughout. I love how our main dragon friend works through his grief of being put to sleep for 80 years and learns how to make up for it since he’s awake now. Beautifully illustrated and while you can read it with The Tea Dragon Society it’s not super necessary to read them in any particular order

obviously this is just a precious graphic novel, and I love the art style, I love the storyline, the plot, the characters. everything about it was just awesome! It's diverse, sweet, but also has a great message. After reading the Tea Dragon Society I jumped right into this one, and couldn't get enough. I was honestly sad when both graphic novels were over. highly recommend them!

There is not enough words to describe the cuteness of this series!! A companion to The Tea Dragon Society, The Tea Dragon Festival is a wonderful return to the lush world of tea dragons; while at the same time a wonderful standalone that even new readers will enjoy.

Of course expect more cute tea dragons, blooming flora and lovable characters. It’s good to see beloved characters Hese and Erik, and to meet new ones like Rinn, Aedhan, and more. I also loved the artist’s rendering of the character design of the real dragon. The tea dragon idea is already an adorable and refreshing take on the familiar mythical creature, but Katie O’Neill has yet again successfully created a dragon as unique as Aedhan.

I am pleased that the second book still got O’Neill’s signature heartwarming storytelling and inclusivity. Pretty much one of the very few books to do so in an effortless and authentic way, in my opinion.

I highly recommend this for anyone who, like me, loves stories of coming home and found families. Prepare your eyes for a visual treat, and maybe also prepare a cup or two of hot tea for that perfect reading experience 🍃

Big thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing a copy of this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.