GOOD NIGHT TIGER

A cacophony of noises keeps young Emma awake. Where are they coming from?

There’s “bellowing and stomping and trumpeting and growling!” The little pale-skinned girl covers her ears, but it doesn’t help. She thinks that the animals must have escaped from the zoo, but the late-night street is empty except for the neighbor’s cat. She looks in every nook and cranny of her room, but nothing. Then she realizes: it’s the jungle animals on her wallpaper that are making all the noise. Like Emma, they can’t get to sleep, explains the tiger, who seems to speak for all. Emma suggests a bath, which the hippo and the gorilla find pleasant, but there’s an awful commotion when the tiger lands on top of the crocodiles. “How about some hot chocolate?” This sounds like a good idea too, but all they have in the jungle is mud, and, though the gorilla mixes it very carefully, it still tastes…“completely disgusting!” Emma tries a cuddle, a lullaby, and turning off the lights, all to no avail. It takes a bedtime story—one about this very adventure—to get everyone to fall fast asleep. The tiger, naturally, curls up at the end of her bed. The story, design, and pictures all feel harmonious and childlike. Knapman’s text dances appealingly across the pages, and Hughes’ fanciful palette has a warm, welcoming quality.

Say goodnight.