TIGER & CAT

Sometimes you have to leave to discover where home is.

Tiger and Cat are inseparable: They dance, play, eat, drink tea, and explore together. Then Tiger tells Cat he must go to Tiger Camp to “earn [his] stripes” and become a “real tiger.” Cat’s protestations that he has stripes and is a tiger already don’t help; both friends are heartbroken. Time passes. Cat continues the activities she once enjoyed with Tiger, while Tiger learns to live “wild.” Cat stops everyone she encounters who wears stripes, finally meeting a young, brown-skinned girl named Susie wearing a tiger costume. After hearing Cat’s sad tale, Susie transcribes a message that the feline dictates, which Cat recites aloud to an absent Tiger at bedtime. That night, Tiger dreams Cat tells him how much she misses him. The next day, Tiger returns, admitting that “Tiger Camp just wasn’t for me!” Tiger accepts his identity as it is, realizing he doesn’t have to change. This gentle Australian import conveys the empowering message that we should be proud of exactly who we are. Unfortunately, the writing is amateurish and sentimental, though the characters are sympathetic. The pleasant, delicately colored line drawings nicely capture expressive Tiger and Cat’s sweet, enduring bond, but readers’ understanding may be hampered somewhat if they don’t know the meaning of the idiomatic expression “earning one’s stripes.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An important life message inexpertly conveyed.