#531 - Tiger! Tiger! Stories of the Big Cat
by various writers with an introduction by Zai Whitaker
“Tiger! Tiger! Stories of the Big Cat” by various writers with an introduction by Zai Whitaker. Published by Talking Cub, the children’s imprint of Speaking Tiger. An anthology taking us through a whole range of tiger experiences.
The book has stories and poems written by some of the best writers on nature across the years. Tigers of various kinds feature in these write ups. The writers include well known ones from a bygone era such as Jim Corbett, Dhan Gopal Mukherji, William Blake and others who spent considerable time in British India. One of the stories is by Maharani Sunity Devi from the princely state of Cooch Behar. There are contemporary writers too like Ruskin Bond, Ranjit Lal, Bulbul Sharma, Aditi De, Pratibha Nandkumar and Anjana Basu. The writings of conservationists like Valmik Thapar and Raghu Chundawat on some of the famous tigers that they have studied are also part of the collection.
The majestic tiger plays an important role in all the stories, poems and real life occurrences mentioned in the book. All kinds of tigers ranging from foolish to proud to revenge extracting ones to supernatural ones can be found in them. While some enjoy freedom, there are some who are destined to become victims of fate. The awe inspiring tiger lives as much in our imaginations as it lives in the jungles of India. Read the wonderful book to get a beautiful glimpse into the world of these royal creatures and know more about them.
The book has a good balance of magic, humour, suspense, adventure, tragedy, wit and spookiness. My almost ten year old and I had an amazing time reading the book slowly over a couple of days. While some stories were familiar, some others gave us new insights into behaviour of tigers and a couple of them were quite strange. There were moments of humour, anticipation, curiosity as well as spookiness which we experienced. The might and awe of the iconic tiger together with the difficulties they face to survive are themes which come out in this anthology beautifully making it a treat for lovers of tigers and nature.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 12 and above for self reading while it can be read aloud to a slightly younger child like we did.
Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Talking Cub, for review. Thank you to Tanu, from Talking Cub, for sending across the book!