It's a Tiger!

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. 

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. 

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.

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 Jones-style threats (tiptoeing past snakes, swinging across a canyon) only to find a tiger lurking after each page turn--which 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 2-6. Illustrator's agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Aug.)

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