“Tiger was born fluffy and small, with his eyes tight shut.” So begins this lovely, lyrical fable about the tiger, “lord of the forest,” who doesn’t discover his majestic title until he grows up. Tiger is extraordinarily sensitive to the murmurings of his surroundings; he hears the slither of zig-zagged snakes, the curling of the chameleon’s tongue, and the creeps of crabs. His mother tells him that when the forest goes silent and time stands still, he will know that “The Lord of the Forest is here!” When he asks who this Lord is, the peacock, the rhinoceros, and the elephant all boastfully claim the title, but Tiger knows these screeching, bellowing, roaring beasts could never be the great one his mother has prepared him to meet. It’s not until he has a family of his own that his tigress mate tells him he’s the lord of the forest. Morris’s beautiful, often full-bleed watercolors of non-anthropomorphized animals in their natural habitat further distinguish this quiet story about grace, humility, and identity. (Picture book. 4-8)
