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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 24 customer reviews )
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6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Delightful & Educational! Jun 28, 2008
By Shirley Priscilla Johnson
"Author/Reviewer - Florida"
All creatures long for a place to call home and in this tender read by author, Joanne L. McGonagle, we meet an alley kitten who stumbles upon a zoo and begins a quest searching for where she would belong. We travel with this precious kitten as she asks each wild cat she meets if she belongs with them. Amongst them are lions, tigers, leopards, and cheetahs that our kitten encounters as she searches for her identity, and the place where she belongs. We learn some important facts about each wild cat, and see their characteristics. It is the wise tiger who gives the kitten wisdom and points her in the right direction to find happiness.
This is a very good read. It is educational and gives learning information in a fun way. The illustrations are bright and colorful and the ending brings a smile. A very well written tale and great learning experience. A book that young and old will surely enjoy.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Well Done Jun 18, 2008
By TrishNYC
A lovely book that will delight the heart of any child. It tells a delightful story that reminds me of the tales I listened to as a child. The tale finds a way of telling a story and at the same time teaching children about the Cat family as a whole. I loved every page. My one minor(very minor) quibble was that I felt that the drawings weren't as clean and neat as some other children's book that I have seen. But like I said this is a very minor quibble and is very likely that my expectations are based on my being a member of the Walt Disney and CGI generation. But in fact the more I think of it, the rougher nature of the drawings are actually part of its charm. So no complaints. I will happily pass this on to my young cousins who will love reading this nice tale.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Protecting the World's Big Cats Dec 28, 2008
By Bryan Carey
"Bryan Carey"
The Tiniest Tiger is a book with multiple messages; one about belonging and another about conservation. This book focuses on the different species of big cats and one small, domestic cat who notices that she has things in common with all of them, but cannot seem to find one with enough in common to feel at home.
One of the important messages in this book is achieving a sense of belonging. The main character in this book is a little kitten who wants to find some other cat with whom to relate. She goes from one big cat to the next after wandering into a zoo and she has no luck finding the right companion, but she continues to try and she politely accepts the advice of each of the big cats to consider a different species of cat. Each of the big cats, while they do reject the little kitten because she isn't exactly like them, are still very nice, reciprocating the politeness of the kitten as she searches for another cat with whom to identify.
Most children's books contain messages about social norms, so this is nothing new. But The Tiniest Tiger has another message that is less commonplace but still very important: That big cats are all listed on endangered species lists and they need to be protected so they don't disappear from the planet. Each time the little kitten visits another big cat, a fact sheet is present and in every instance, the word Endangered is printed at the top of the list, in bold, red letters. This is intended to bring attention to the fact that all big cats are endangered to one degree or another. Following the endangerment warning is a list of facts about each big cat, like it body length, weight, life span, litter size, and level of endangerment status. The fact sheet even includes a map of the world showing the cat's habitat in the wild. These facts serve to educate young readers on the key differences between these big cats, showing that the differences are more than just the physical appearance, which is often the only way that most people know one big cat from another.
The illustrations in The Tiniest Tiger are nice and they offer a look that is a little different from other children's books. Instead of relying on computer images and well- defined lines, these illustrations look like sketches that have been hand painted in someone's home. They are not as precise in design as the illustrations in other children's book, but they fit the book and its message just fine. The only thing I don't like about the illustrations is the pairs of pages with no illustrations. With each big cat encounter, the little kitten is pictured with the big cat and the fact sheet, but there are no words. The conversation between the two, and the results that occur, are covered on the next pair of pages, which include no illustrations at all. I surmise that The Tiniest Tiger was illustrated in this manner so that young readers would focus solely on the fact sheets and learn about these different cats. But it still would have looked better if the blank sheets had some type of illustration and not just words.
The Tiniest Tiger is, overall, a very nice children's book with several important messages. This book wants children to understand the issues of belonging, but more important than that, The Tiniest Tiger is a book about the importance of conservation as it relates to the world's big cats. From tigers to bobcats, big cats are a threatened species of animal and a concerted effort is needed so that the big cats, much like the little kitten in this book, can eventually find a safe habitat of their own.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Charmingly told little story about a lost kitten at the zoo Jun 18, 2008
By Dennis Littrell
For a children's book to really be effective, to say something to the child, to engage the child's sense of wonder, the book must in some way relate to the concerns a child might have. But it must do so in a way that frightens neither the child nor its parents. Here we have a little kitten chasing a butterfly until, completely wrapped up in her play, she finds herself lost.
This is the sort of thing that could happen to a child. When I was four years old I followed the sight of a blimp until, with eyes on the sky, I found myself stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits of Los Angeles! Two paper boys heard my cries and, laying planks of wood out upon the tar, managed to pull me out.
In "The Tiniest Tiger" the kitten goes into a zoo to find a home among the big cats there only to be gently guided from one big cat to the other. Each cat says that yes little kitten you have markings and such that you might grow up to be like me, but probably not. Go and try the next cat.
And so the little kitten goes from the tiger to the lion to the cheetah to the leopard...and so on until she is found by the zoo keeper's daughter and welcomed into their home where a cat with her markings named Hazel also lives.
A nice touch in this gently illustrated book are signs at the zoo giving various facts about the big cats, such as their size and how long they live and whether they are endangered or not along with a little map showing the extent of their range in the wild.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
The Tiniest Tiger Sep 03, 2009
By Heather L. Gonzales
"Kali and Lucy's mom"
I loved this book. I can't wait to have children and read it to them. It is a great way to explain to children about endangered species.
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