Dahlia’s Tea Party – Read and Print

By Rachel Dunstan Muller, copyright 2021

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“I’m going to have a tea party,” Dahlia told her mother one spring afternoon.

“How lovely,” said her mother. “And who are you going to invite?”

“All the animals from the zoo,” said Dahlia. “Well, maybe not the tigers. I’m not really in the mood for tigers. And maybe not the hippopotamus’ either. I don’t think they’d fit on the bus.”

“Hmm,” said her mother. “You’re probably right.”

“Yes,” said Dahlia. “But I am going to invite the penguins. And the flamingos and the panda and the kangaroos, too.”

Dahlia wrote a lovely letter to the zookeeper, inviting her favourite animals to a tea party at 2 o’clock on Saturday afternoon. Her big brother helped with some of the spelling. And when the letter was finished, Dahlia drew a picture of all the animals sitting at a table under the willow tree in her backyard. Then she put the picture and the invitation in an envelope.

“Could I please have a stamp?” she asked her father.

“Oh, Dahlia,” said her father. “This is a very nice invitation. But I’m not sure the animals will be able to leave the zoo.”

“Oh, they’ll come,” said Dahlia. “You’ll see.”

Dahlia spent the rest of the week getting ready for her tea party. She made egg sandwiches, and cucumber sandwiches, and ham sandwiches with pickles. She made shrimp sandwiches for the penguins, and bamboo sandwiches for the panda bear. She made little cakes, and little cookies, and even little strawberry tarts.

When Saturday came, Dahlia got up very early, while everyone else was still fast asleep. First, she carried out all the chairs from the kitchen, and all the chairs from the dining room, and from her mother’s office, and from her father’s study. Then she woke her brother, and got him to help her carry out the kitchen table, and the dining room table, and even their mother’s sewing table. They put all the tables together under the willow tree in the backyard, and covered them with white tablecloths. Then, while her brother climbed back into bed again, Dahlia set the tables with her mother’s very best china.

Dahlia was picking roses from her mother’s garden – the very nicest roses – when her mother came outside. “Oh!” said her mother. “You have been busy this morning, haven’t you, Dahlia?”

Dahlia clapped her hands. “Isn’t it pretty, Mommy?”

“It is very pretty,” Dahlia’s mother said, as she looked at the white tablecloths, and the fancy china, and the roses in Dahlia’s hands. “You’ve done a – – lovely job. But, Dahlia, dear, I’m not sure the zoo animals will be able to come to your tea party this afternoon. Perhaps we should invite Nana and some of our neighbours instead.”

“Oh, they’ll be here,” said Dahlia. “You’ll see.”

That afternoon, just a few minutes before 2, Dahlia asked her father to put the kettle on for tea.

“Oh, Dahlia,” said her father. “I really don’t think the animals will be able to leave the zoo.”

“Of course they will,” said Dahlia. “They’ll be here any minute. Penguins are very punctual.”

Dahlia’s father did not look convinced, but he put the kettle on.

While her father was getting the tea ready, Dahlia went out to the front yard to wait for her guests. And at precisely 2 o’clock, she heard the rumble of an engine, and then a bus came around the corner.

Dahlia was so excited, she was almost jumping up and down as her guests came off the bus. There was a mama kangaroo, and a baby kangaroo. There was an ostrich, and a panda, and two flamingoes. There was a koala and a llama, a spider monkey and a lemur, a tortoise, an armadillo, and three penguins.

Dahlia clapped her hands. “Oh, thank you for coming to my tea party! I am so happy to see you!”

Dahlia led all her guests to the willow tree in the backyard. She led them past her father, and her mother, and her brother, and her Nana – who were all watching with their mouths wide open.

“I told you they would come,” said Dahlia.

The tortoise was the last to reach the table – and then all the guests were seated. And what interesting guests they were. The llama and the panda both admired the pretty china. The flamingos didn’t have much to say, but they looked quite glamourous in their sunglasses. The koala and the armadillo were a little shy at first, until the ostrich took them under her wings.

While the penguins were bowing politely to all the other guests, and the spider monkey and the lemur were playing pat-a-cake with the baby kangaroo – Dahlia’s mother brought out the sandwiches, and Dahlia’s father poured the tea. Everyone agreed that the food was delicious, and they were even more delighted when Dahlia’s brother brought out the strawberry tarts. “Mmm,” said the baby kangaroo.

When Dahlia’s guests were finished eating and drinking that afternoon, there wasn’t a crumb left on the table or a drop left in the teapot. “That was a lovely tea party,” said the mama kangaroo, and all the other animals agreed. No one wanted the party to end.

But, at last it was time for them to go. “Thank you,” the armadillo said shyly, as he climbed onto the bus.

“Thank you,” said Dahlia to all the animals. “That was so much fun. I hope you’ll come again.”

Then Dahlia and her family stood and waved until the bus was out of sight.

“Wow!” said Dahlia’s brother, when the animals were gone. “I can’t wait to tell everyone at school. That was amazing! You should have another tea party soon!

“Oh, I will,” said Dahlia. “I will.”

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