TIGER TRAIL

The author and illustrator of Wolf Watch (1997) here team up again to let the tigress speak: “I am the tigress. / I walk alone. / No pack / no pride / no mate / helps me survive.” Winters’s tigress describes how she hunts to feed her cubs, washes them with her warm, wet tongue, carries them to safety to avoid a lurking leopard, and teaches them to swim, hide, and hunt, until at last they can go off to live on their own. The author presents a good deal of detail about the lifecycle, without ever giving specific information about the species of lion or geographic region where it is found. The title ends as it begins, as the tigress asserts: “I am the tigress. / I walk alone.” Regan’s huge black and gold tigress has strength and dignity, while the inquisitive cubs are cuddly and cute. Double-paged spreads allow for the sweep and majesty of the setting. But the illustrator is less successful at integrating the tiger into a realistic landscape. While the author describes the tigress hunting at the edge of the jungle at sunset “where peacocks roost,” the illustrator presents a decorative peacock with feathers trailing to the ground. In any setting but a zoo, that bird would be dinner! The author does not provide sources, so young researchers will need to look elsewhere for school assignments, which certainly could be inspired by this beginning. This is an attractive nature read-aloud for the picture-book set. (Picture book. 6-8)