The Tiger of Turkestan - Hardcover

Hogrogian, Nonny

3.62

8 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1571743081 ISBN 13: 9781571743084

Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing, 2002

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Heeding his dying grandmother's words, Little Tiger tries to be different from all the other animals by doing the opposite of what they do.

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From Publishers Weekly:

"Do something nobody else does!" are the dying words of Little Tiger's grandmamma. Little Tiger is a particularly reflective feline in Hogrogian's (Always Room for One More; One Fine Day) most striking picture, his orange eyes peer out with poignant intensity from a scrim of emerald leaves. But at first, Little Tiger can only interpret her advice in terms of playful behavior: "If the other tigers ran forward, Little Tiger was sure to run backward. When the tigers raced to the watering hole, Little Tiger hopped all the way." As Little Tiger matures into a more imposing figure and travels the world, his understanding and sense of self deepens. "One day when Tiger's heart was full, he began to dance." Thus he discovers his calling: to be a teacher of dance to other animals, "one who helped others to find joy in being themselves." The soft-spoken earnestness of the text (the book is dedicated to the mystic G.I. Gurdjieff) may make this title more suitable to adults, and the renderings of the protagonist vary in their success at times, there's an awkward bulkiness to his physique. Still, the strength in Tiger's eyes is unmistakable, and Hogrogian's watercolors demonstrate a lovely quietude and restraint reminiscent of traditional Asian painting. Contemplatively inclined children may well appreciate Tiger's mission. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

K-Gr. 3. Caldecott-winner Hogrogian offers a finely tuned and lovely picture book on the deepest of philosophical questions: Who am I and why am I here? Little Tiger's dying grandmother urges him either to do nothing "just hunt and eat, as other tigers do," or to do what no one else does. Little Tiger ponders this. Sometimes he walks like a kangaroo, sometimes like a donkey, and always runs backward if his friends are running forward. But as he grows, he travels to find out who he is, until, finally, he dances in the ecstasy of discovering that he is like all of them, but utterly himself. He becomes a great dancing teacher to help others "find joy in being themselves." Hogrogian's dancing tiger is a thing of great beauty, visually expressing the implosion of enlightenment in the words. The tiger's burnished gold color plays against green and blue backgrounds, and here and there a tail or a paw spills out of the frame. The simple and gentle text calls out the most elemental questions of identity in ways that the smallest children can grasp. GraceAnne DeCandido
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