Tiger Brother: A Tale Told in English and Chinese (Stories of the Chinese Zodiac)

About the Author\nLi Jian has a B.A. in Chinese painting from Hebei Normal University. Formerly a middle school art teacher and children’s book editor, he currently owns his own illustration studio focused on children’s fairy tales.\nChangsheng’s father brings home a homeless tabby kitten. However, as the kitten grows older, they realize that it's actually a little tiger. Soon Changsheng and the little tiger become so attached to each other. Wearing a tiger-head hat made by his mother, Changsheng and the little tiger become best brothers. However, the villagers are scared of the tiger. Changsheng has no choice but to send the little tiger back to the mountains. The little tiger promises that it will return in times of need. All Changsheng has to do is to put on his tiger-head hat and yell “Tiger Brother” from the top of the mountain. One day a gang of robbers appear in the village. Since the villagers are unable to resist the robbers, Changsheng runs up to the top of the mountain, yelling for his tiger brother. The tiger brother and his brave tiger friends arrive to their rescue, driving away all the robbers out of the village. The tiger brother returns to the mountains, but it keeps its promise to Changsheng forever. A story about bravery, love, and promise, it also introduces the characteristics of people born in the Year of the Tiger, the origin of the Siberian tiger, and the history of the tiger-head hat.\nFrom School Library Journal\nPreS-Gr 2—In a tale written in both English and Chinese, friendship and battle scenes live side by side. When Changsheng's father returns to the family home in the Changbai Mountains in northeast China with a small tabby kitten, the child is delighted. He and the kitten are inseparable, even as the kitten grows enough to be recognized as a tiger, and even as the villagers in fear begin to distance themselves from the family. Changsheng travels with his tiger brother back to the mountains where they part ways, but not before Tiger Brother vows to return any time the family needs him. When a band of robbers sets upon the village, the tiger brother and all his tiger family quickly make good on that promise. Soft, dreamlike watercolors convey the power of the relationship, a near-battle scene with the robbers, and the shame of the villagers, apologizing to the tigers for fearing them. Back matter explains the cultural value of the tiger and more. VERDICT This is a gorgeous addition to folktale shelves, but also offers lessons on friendship and loyalty. —Kimberly Olson Fakih