Sherry Been and Cathy Morrison’s book gives kids a taste of natural history by telling them about a tiger’s life in the second person. “If you were a tiger,” the book reads, “we would call you Great Swimmer. You have strong muscles and you love the water….”
I think this approach is an effective way to get kids to consider what animals think, feel, and experience without resorting to anthropomorphism. Still, I wish the author used the second person consistently throughout the book; occasionally she resorts to explaining about tigers without addressing the reader as a tiger. Likewise, some illustrations are beautiful and polished, while others look like preliminary sketches.
Ages 4-8.