TIGER WALK

A little boy’s picture of a tiger
comes to amazing life.

At the art gallery, Tom watches the
tiger in a jungle painting full of lush green foliage. “And the tiger watches
Tom.” At home, Tom uses crayons to draw a big tiger with “pointy teeth” and “green-jewel
eyes.” In the shadows in his bedroom that night, Tom sees the eyes, twitching
whiskers, and swishing tail, and he holds his breath. The tiger gets very
close—and invites Tom to go for a walk. “Climb up. Hold tight.” They pad into
the gleaming jungle, where “they see foxes and bears and even a lion” and play
hide-and-seek. When they reach the river, the tiger helps Tom get over his fear
of swimming. On the other side is a fair “high above the world and close to the
stars.” Next, the tiger takes Tom down to a cave lined with walls of ice, where
snow tigers love to dance. Everyone dances until Tom grows weary. He snuggles
against the tiger and falls asleep, realizing he’s no longer afraid. Through
her precise text, Hofmeyr espouses the joy of imagination and the power of art
to stimulate it. The afterword discusses Henri Rousseau’s Surprised!, the painting that inspired the story; Hodgson’s elegant,
softly textured colored-pencil illustrations both do it justice and ensure that
the tiger never overwhelms readers. Tom has olive skin and straight black hair.

Simply lovely. (Picture book. 4-7)