The Tiger Prince
by Chen Jiang Hong (Author)
A magnificently illustrated Chinese folklore tale about a tigress, a seer, a King, and the prince, who must leave his family and learn the ways of the tigers so that the war between man and animal can end. Deep in the Great Forest, a tigress is mourning the death of her tiger babies who have been killed by hunters. Seeking revenge, she attacks the villages, destroying houses and prompting the king to gather his army.
But a seer named Lao Lao warns the king that if he angers the tigress further she will destroy the kingdom. Lao Lao counsels the king to give his own son to the tigress and promises that no harm will come to the boy. The next morning, the king brings the prince to the edge of the Great Forest and tells him, "Now you must go on alone." To end the war between man and animal, the prince must forget his human ways and begin to learn what tigers know.
The Tiger Prince was inspired by The Tigress, a late Shang dynasty bronze vessel in the Cernuschi Museum in Paris depicting a scene from the Chinese folktale of a baby raised by a tigress.
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Kirkus Reviews
his richly illustrated tale is both emotionally compelling and thought-provoking, and its timely message of understanding and compassion will resonate with readers of all ages.
Publishers Weekly
This tale, Hong (Mao and Me) explains in a brief note, was inspired by figures on a bronze Chinese vessel, which represents the legend of a human child raised by a tiger. In the story's chilling opening sequence--one that may upset sensitive readers--hunters murder a tigress's cubs and she wreaks vengeance, attacking villages and killing people. Lao Lao, a fortune-teller, counsels the king and queen to offer their small son, the prince Wen, to appease the tiger. Brokenhearted, they do. Using sprawling spreads and panels that evoke a sense of movement through the depths of the forest, Hong brushes dark, sinewy ink strokes that bring the tiger's actions right up close. When she first encounters the small, sleeping child, she prepares to maul him, but "just as she's about to attack, instinct overcomes her. She takes Wen in her mouth the way she used to take her cubs. And suddenly, all of her anger vanishes." Wen becomes the tiger's child, and Hong shows Wen riding on her back as she "teaches him everything a little tiger needs to know." The vision of overcoming rage with the power of love and chosen family redeems the story's earlier violence and offers an alternative to punishment and retribution. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)
Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
Alyson Waters has translated works from the French by Albert Cossery, Louis Aragon, René Belletto, and many others. For NYRB Classics, she translated Emmanuel Bove's Henri Duchemin and His Shadows. She teaches literary translation in the French Department of Yale University and is the managing editor of Yale French Studies. She lives in Brooklyn.
JUV002150 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Lions, Tigers, Leopards, etc.
JUV012020 - Juvenile Fiction | Fairy Tales & Folklore | Country & Ethnic - General
China
Tiger
Kings and rulers
Princes
Oracles
Oracles, Chinese
