In India, a tiger family roams a wildlife sanctuary where "ruins of palaces, pavilions, and watchtowers marked the site where princes once ruled." This enchanted setting, entwined by the thick-legged roots of banyan trees in Maeno's large-scale watercolors, seems to herald a beguiling story. However, Parkison instead delivers a lesson in what an afterword to parents and teachers calls "strategies for anger management." The tiger cub Mallika must curb her short temper. When her brother steals the peacock she has almost snagged, a fit of ire lands her in a bush of burrs; when taunted by langur monkeys, Mallika's indignation drives her out on a slim limb. At last, trapped deep in the cellar of a ruined temple, she learns to stay calm and finds a means of escape. Throughout, a tiger mom cum psychologist offers sage counsel: "When you are really mad, you need to find another way to let off steam"; "Walk away. Do something else." Maeno's often arresting compositions serve here as the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down-but medicine the story remains.
FYI: An activity guide ($16.95 -089-8) and videocassette ($59.95 -088-X) for this title are also available, either separately or packaged together with the book (package, $79.95 -090-1).
K-Gr 3A didactic lesson thinly disguised as a story. Set in the wildlife sanctuary of Ranthambhore in India, the book's main protagonist is a hot-tempered young tiger named Mallika. After losing her prey because of her hotheadedness, her mother attempts to teach Mallika to manage her anger by making better behavior choices. After several mishaps, she controls her emotions and extricates herself from a tight spot, thereby learning her lesson. The detailed watercolor illustrations fill the oversized pages with warm oranges, yellows, reds, and lush greens, depicting the sanctuary with its picturesque ruins and exotic wildlife. The endpapers offer information on India, the sanctuary, and its flora and fauna. The text, however, is preachy and humorless. A page at the end presents strategies for parents and educators to help youngsters deal with their tempers. The subject is treated with a lighter touch in Marjorie Sharmat's Attila the Angry (Holiday, 1985) and Norma Simon's I Was So Mad (Albert Whitman, 1974).Judith Constantinides, East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
This didactic, stilted story of a tiger in India who frequently becomes angry and upset is designed to assist young children in learning to identify, accept, and express their emotions. When Mallika tussles with her brother, causing them to let go of a peacock, their mother, Babur, says, "True, your brother didn't play fair, but nobody wins when you lose your temper." While the lessons may be therapeutic, the fiction is weak (a concluding note to parents and educators advises them to ask children certain questions to help them get the point). The illustrations are more successfulgreens and golds dominate the appealing watercolors that capture the rich and exotic locale of India's Ranthambhore National Park, in a realistic style, although the tiger cubs occasionally fall prey to anthropomorphic glares, sulks, and smiles.