Author: Dan Thompson
Illustrator: Dan Thompson
© Date: 2023
Publisher: RH Graphic
Pages: 81
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: Yes, graphic novel
Publisher Recommended Age: 5-8 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: Yes, fun facts about tigers and cats and how to draw characters
Summary from Book: Do you know what makes a tiger a tiger?
Lily the tiger thought she knew-until she meets Tig the cat. Tig might look and sound like a house cat, but Tig knows he is a tiger. Now Lily and Tig are on the case to figure out what it means to be a tiger, but can they discover what it means to be a friend?
Page Pig Thoughts: This one is a sweet and silly story. Self confidence and trusting your own instincts are the crux of the story. Tig the house cat walks into the zoo with all the confidence of someone who knows who they are are where they belong in the world. Lily the tiger then doubts who she is and that she is a tiger. The story is sweet and plays with a few facts about tigers and house cats. We enjoyed this one and would read it again.
Family Unit: Tig comes to live in the tiger exhibit with Lily
Conflict/Social Issues:
- Tig believes that he is a tiger, which makes Lily doubt that she is a tiger.
- Two other tigers make Tig cry and say he is not a tiger.
Positive Items:
- Lily puts some other tigers in their place for making Tig cry.
- Tig and Lily become friends and share the exhibit home.
Items of Interest:
- Tig the house cat shows up with confidence saying that he has been looking for his tiger home. The zoo exhibit is the perfect place for him to play with his ball of yarn.
- Tig never waivers from his belief that he is a tiger, which gives Lily a bit of an identity crisis because she has never thought about what makes her a tiger before.
- Lily reads the sign on her exhibit at the zoo that says that tigers are solitary. Chapter 3 has two other tigers in the exhibit making Tig cry because they say he is not a tiger. The other tigers work into the plot for Lily being a good friend, but don’t sync up with the information on the sign.
- When Lily is putting the other tigers in their place, she can mew and hold her tail in the air. Previously, she could not do those things that Tig said made him a tiger. Again, it works for the plot, but doesn’t follow the facts that were presented in the story.
- How does Lily put the other tigers in their place? She shows them all of the points that Tig said made him a tiger.
- The other tigers now have a bit of an identity crisis wondering if they are really tigers.
- After watching Lily talk with the other two tigers, Tig asks Lily if he really is a tiger after all. Lily tells Tig that he can be whatever he wants to be and he can live with her if he wants to.
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- Book 2 – Tig and Lily: Party Animals
- Book 3 – Tig and Lily: Up Late!