It's a Tiger!

June 11, 2012
Tankard's (Piggy Bunny) artwork adds splash and color to this mock-suspense tale from LaRochelle (The Haunted Hamburger and Other Ghostly Stories), outlining the characters with heavy ink strokes and tinting them with brilliant jewel tones that make them look as if they were painted on glass or film. "Are you ready for a story? Me too," the narrator starts, as a boy in a blue jacket stands in for the narrator/reader "we." The Boy negotiates a series of Indiana Jonesâstyle threats (tiptoeing past snakes, swinging across a canyon) only to find a tiger lurking after each page turnâwhich he always escapes in the knick of time. "Good thing we landed someplace soft. A bed of flowers?... A giant orange-and-black pillow? No, we landed on top of... a tiger!" No matter how scary the circumstances, the deadpan narrative voice reassures children that it's just a story, and the tiger's zigzag teeth and soft features imply that he might not be all that dangerous. The repetitive structure, action, frights, and surprise ending should make this a popular storytime pick. Ages 2â6. Illustrator's agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties.

July 1, 2012
This metafictive romp follows a child who encounters, flees from and then befriends a tiger. The protagonist's direct address and gaze immediately engage readers with the question, "Are you ready for a story?" Ensuing pages deliver a hide-and-seek narrative as the child spies: a tiger's tail amid swinging monkeys; its shadow hidden in a bat cave; its tail hidden among slithering snakes; and its body camouflaged by flowers. The tiger seems less than fearsome, but the child nevertheless flees when it appears disguised as a ship's captain, and again when it emerges with a roar from a treasure chest. But, lo and behold, the tiger isn't roaring after all; it's only yawning. "If we scratch his ears and rub his belly, maybe he'll go to sleep," the child says. "Better yet, let's tell him a story." A page turn finds the child back at the opening scene with the monkeys to start the story again. This time, however, a crocodile tail (rather than the initial scene's tiger tail) hangs from above, delivering a punch line that promises another race through the jungle, if a rather obvious quasi-resolution. Throughout, Tankard's vibrant ink and digitally rendered illustrations express the excitement and fun of the story, elevating the exuberant text to ideal storytime fare. It's a tiger, and it's sure to be a hit. (Picture book. 3-5)

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Starred review from September 1, 2012

PreS-K-Young imaginations will run wild with this story within a story of a young boy who escapes from a tiger over and over again in various outrageous land- and seascapes. Tankard's bold black lines, created with ink and digital media, frame the cartoonlike characters and allow the tiger's stripes to stand out strikingly when viewed from a storytime circle. Children will enjoy trying to spot the tiger's tail, which is often camouflaged within the background scenery, while the protagonist regularly shouts, "A TIGER!" displayed in large-type font. Teachers can use this book to lead their listening audiences in re-creating the boy's actions as he sometimes creeps and crawls, yet at other times he boldly races to the surprising conclusion. This tale will be a boon to creative minds everywhere and a participatory storytime winner.-Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2012
Preschool-G A little boy addresses the reader: Are you ready for a story? So begins a jungle tale featuring one gleeful monkey swinging from a vine, another hanging upside down, and two more with just their tails visible. But wait. What's with that thick, striped orange-and-black tail in the mix? The typeface explodes in the following spread: A TIGER! RUN! And thus readers embark on an exciting reversal of hide-and-seek, with every spread featuring a telltale stripe of tiger hidden somewhere on the pagewhich, of course, leads to more desperate screaming and hiding. Tankard's thick-lined, off-kilter, ink and digital-media renderings of a bat cave, a snakes' nest, a flowerbed, and more add drama to each scenario and extra wattage to every jolt. Obviously, this will make for a boisterous soft/loud/soft read-aloud, and it comes with a nifty twist at the end, too. What's that scaly green tail hanging from the boughs?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2013
A storytelling child imagines stumbling upon a tiger in the jungle and flees; every subsequent location holds a visual clue to the hiding tiger, and the discoveries keep the child running--until he realizes the yawning tiger just needs a belly rub. Bright, thick-lined ink and digital-media illustrations match the energetic if too-familiar story, which begs to be read aloud.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2013

PreS-K-In LaRochelle's lively and entertaining picture book (Chronicle, 2012), listeners will delight in helping the main character run away from a not-so-scary tiger who pops up unexpectedly-in a cave, on a ship, and even in a treasure chest-adding excitement and momentum to this fantastic read-aloud which includes a surprise twist at the end. Jeremy Tankard's bold and colorful ink and digital media illustrations complement the text, and the creative use of font adds a further bit of emotion and anticipation to the tale. Children will recognize the repeated phrase "A TIGER" and join in to make this a fun interactive experience. Noah Galvin narrates with just the right amount of inflection to his voice. Page-turn signals are optional. A fun story for kids to act out during story time, and a good choice for public library collections.-Amy Joslyn, Fairport Public Library, NY

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.