Luminous paintings convey a magical night time atmosphere full of dreams, hopes and possibilities and a sense of ‘forever’, even when things are changing. A little girl dances joyously through the seasons with a ‘quiet and gentle tiger’. They meet when the moon is full and, bathed in its ethereal light, they skip through the bluebells, high-kick the autumn leaves and, as winter comes, they waltz in the dazzling snow. The illustrations create a dreamy background against which the bond between the little girl, her great-grandmother who, as a child herself, had done it all before, and the tiger is powerfully forged. A quiet book, but one to savour. (5+)
This magical, tender tale about a girl, a tiger and a great-grandmother is a joyous dance through the changing seasons. From the moment the book is opened, we are invited into woodland suffused with moonlight and, as the tiger's story is revealed in all its beautiful simplicity, we are left pondering the power of the imagination, the importance of self-expression and the special nature of a relationship across the generations.
Malachy Doyle is the author of Digger and Lew, Big Pig, Teddybear Blue, Antonio on the Other Side of the World, Getting Smaller and Too Noisy, illustrated by Ed Vere.
His first teenage novel, Georgie, won the Tir na n-Og prize and his picture book, Cow, won an English Association Award for non-fiction. He also won the 2002 White Raven Award for Hungry! Hungry! He lives with his family (and his cat, dog, ducks and hens) in County Donegal, Ireland.
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