A silly, illustrated adventure from the National Book Award-winning author of The Penderwicks --perfect for children newly reading on their own! Teaflet and her brother, Roog, are ready to throw their annual strawberry jam party for their friends in Trefldom. They want it to be the best party ever, even ten times better than the best party ever! But the inspector of neatness is coming to examine their higgledy-piggledy house from top to bottom. If she finds even one pinch of dirt, or one messy bed, the party will be canceled. Teaflet promises to clean while Roog bakes for the party. But will she be distracted by animals needing her help, like the toad whose tongue drags on the ground? Or will she finish in time and save the party? “A slice of whimsy with a scoop of jam-errific fun on top…Quaint in scope, tremendous in flair.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review "There are charming little accent illustrations scattered throughout the text, and textures sometimes spill out of photos and onto the page. Readers will be delighted to make the trip to Trelfdom through this immersive, merry tale.” — Booklist JEANNE BIRDSALL is the National Book Award-winning author of the children's book The Penderwicks and its four sequels, all of which were New York Times bestsellers. Before The Penderwicks , she had many strange jobs to support herself while working hard as a photographer. Birdsall's photographs are included in the permanent collections of museums, including the Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Art Museum--and she shot the photos for this book. She lives with her husband in Northampton, Massachusetts. Their house is old and comfortable, full of unruly animals, and surrounded by gardens. JANE DYER is the beloved illustrator of more than fifty picture books, including the New York Times bestselling Cookies series by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Time for Bed and Roly Poly by Mem Fox, and I Love You Like Crazycakes by Rose Lewis, in addition to numerous other award winners. She currently lives in Northampton, MA, where she and Jeanne Birdsall are neighbors. ONE  Chances are you’ve never found Trelfdom, because wherever you look, it’s always somewhere else. Across the river, maybe, or in a different wood, or at the bottom of the hill. Until you cross the river, explore that other wood, or climb down the hill, and discover that Trelfdom isn’t there, either.  If you haven’t found Trelfdom, you’ve never visited a certain little higgledy-piggledy house that sits halfway up an enormous tree. This is where Roog and his sister, Teaflet, live. Or, rather, where Teaflet and her brother, Roog, live. I say it both ways around, to keep from offending anyone.  Despite being small, Teaflet and Roog are the same as any other sister and brother, happy together until something goes wrong. What goes wrong for them, though, isn’t what usually goes wrong for most of us.  You see, Roog loves working in the kitchen: cooking, baking, anything to do with food. And Teaflet loves helping any creature who comes to her with a problem. Like the bluebird who was too shy to sing, and the baby hedgehog who didn’t know how to uncurl. Teaflet’s creatures never mess up Roog’s food projects on purpose, but sometimes they just can’t help it. The bluebird didn’t understand that the blueberries on the counter were meant to be baked into muffins. It’s not the kind of thing birds are taught by their parents. And I don’t think it was the hedgehog’s fault that Roog poured chocolate-cake batter on him. For a hedgehog, a cake pan is a perfectly natural place for a nap. But these mishaps are rare, and life in the higgledy-piggledy house is mostly calm.  While everything that comes out of Roog’s kitchen is delicious, he has a specialty--strawberry jam. Scrumptious, mouthwatering strawberry jam, sweeter and more berry-ish than any jam you’ve ever tasted. It’s so yummy that once a year he and Teaflet have a big Strawberry Jam Party for their friends. You can eat the jam with cake, pie, pancakes, waffles, ice cream, toast, croissants, pudding, tapioca--and even oatmeal, if anyone wants it, but no one ever does.  The party is always on the fifth Saturday after the first full moon after the strawberries ripen on the vines. Some say this is the easiest time for outsiders to find Trelfdom. I say they’re wrong, and I’m the one to know. But it certainly is the best time to visit. If you’re lucky enough to manage that, be sure to have a slice (or three--they’re small, remember) of Roog’s double-chocolate cake with strawberry jam. It’s my favorite.   TWO Roog was working in the kitchen, and had been since early morning. This year’s Strawberry Jam Party was happening the very next day, and he still had mountains of food left to prepare. Up next was his lemon poppy-seed cake. He’d arranged the ingredients on the table--twenty-three poppy seeds, a lemon, flour, sugar, butter--but he couldn’t begin yet. Teaflet was in his way.  And not just Teaflet, but also a wasp nest