When you’re shopping for the best book about tigers, you’ll need to keep two main criteria in mind: type and format. Let’s take a look at these factors: Type Translated into several languages, including French and Danish, millions of copies have sold globally. It was on The New York Times and The Globe and Mail best-selling lists for over a year.

A couple more adds, from my sparse notes: Well-written and well-researched but TMI at times. Then again, chilling grace notes: an incident when a pride of lions in Africa slaughtered an entire troop of baboons. When the baboons realized they had no hope of escape, they covered their eyes and awaited their fate. Mix Bagheera, Aslan, The Golden Compass, William Blake's Tyger burning bright and add an extra dash of imagination, vulnerability and community and you receive the astounding Tyger by S.F. Said. The story focuses on Adam Alhambra, a young lad who is the delivery boy of his family though really he dreams of becoming an artist. However his parents fear that this will draw unwanted attention and lead to greater persecution than they already suffer for having darker skin. However, when he stumbles onto the last living Tyger in a derelict building, magic takes hold of Adam's humble life and danger isn't far behind.This story is a lot darker than I had expected going in, with very, very heavy themes of racism and prejudice throughout and even scenes of executions where it goes into quite a lot of detail. However, Tyger also has some very heartwarming moments too, Adam feels like a real boy with his own fears and worries and also feels very hopeful, in this world where everyone is terrible to anyone from another land, he still dreams of becoming an artist and selling his work, even though his parents have forbidden him from drawing. The final fight with the tiger is pretty tense, especially considering it probably took less than a few minutes. I liked the epilogue, most notably the fact that many of the people in Trush's region think he has the taint of the tiger on him now and won't sleep under the same roof. Tiger sightings in those days were uncommon because they were primarily nocturnal. In addition, the felines were extremely shy and not accustomed to being around people. Some reviewers didn’t like this story, saying that the tiger’s rudeness didn’t set a good example for children.

Alan Rabinowitz lived up to his “Indiana Jones of Wildlife Science” title, bestowed on him by The New York Times. In this book, he recounts his journey to the Hukaung Valley in Northern Myanmar while on a mission to establish the largest tiger reserve in the world. Like the beast this book is about, The Tiger is patient. It stalks ahead with care and diligence as it learns about its prey, and each step forward the tension builds until the target is reached and then it pounces with devastating fury. I loved this book so much that I was moved to make a contribution to one of the conservation groups Vaillant mentions in his book. It is an extraordinary story of human survival and co-existence with nature, as well as the intelligence, natural history, and prospects for the Amur Tiger.Overall, I loved this book! My colleague told me that it was so good I would be able to finish it in 2 hours and though it took my 3, she wasn’t wrong! It’s being hyped for a reason! I can see this becoming a classic for children - there’s so much to take apart and discover more about - the writing is super clever. This is a book that can broaden your perspective of not only tigers, but also human proclivities and the paradoxes of evolving Russian life.

Vaillant writes great descriptions of the Amur Tiger protective agents with succinct and poignant details. He was also able to build the locally legendary characters of the area's poachers, even the ones who became the tiger's prey. With forensic evidence, post-mortums of the many hunts and subsequently successful kills by the tiger of man or animal were fully enacted in engrossing action that'll put the chills up your spine. A reminder/warning though: this is not a thrill-a-minute action novel. This is a balanced non-fiction. Be prepared to spend some time, for instance, learning about Russia's Perestroika movement in the 80s or relating the detrimental buffalo slayings of the old American West to the big game hunting that nearly wiped out the tigers of Russia's Taiga. So just beware, you might learn something. This is an atmospheric story set in an alternative near-future London. The city is a dangerous place for many, dominated by strict social rules, a system of racial superiority and un-abolished slavery that developed from colonialism. In this London, Adam and Zadie are both children who have been made to feel like outsiders. The story centres on their discovery of a mythical creature – a Tyger who is hiding after being hunted and wounded. Adam helps the injured Tyger and new friendship blossoms. Soon, the Tyger teaches Adam a renewed philosophical outlook on life and helps him to tap into his hidden gifts. The children set about to protect and save the Tyger, and as fear and oppression rage in the city of London, the children's courage to save the Tyger makes wider ripples than they could ever imagine. This is ultimately a powerful and uplifting read that I am sure will become a classic piece of children's literature. This book recounts author Alan Rabinowitz’s journey to the Hukaung Valley in Northern Myanmar to establish the largest tiger reserve in the world.

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It was adapted into a feature film directed by Ang Lee in 2012. The Life of Pi movie won four Oscars, notably the Academy Award for Best Directing. In terms of world-building, I absolutely love what's going on here. We learn about the way society has pushed immigrants into the worst areas of the city. Hidden them away so some older generations are too afraid to go beyond the safety of their homes. Along the way, Adam starts working with Zadie, another child of immigrants. She has taken to wearing a cloak to make her way around the city of London. As we traverse the capital, we see plenty of familiar landmarks in the midst of the newness. This ancient, tenuous relationship between man and predator is at the very heart of this remarkable book. Throughout we encounter surprising theories of how humans and tigers may have evolved to coexist, how we may have developed as scavengers rather than hunters, and how early Homo sapiens may have fit seamlessly into the tiger’s ecosystem. Above all, we come to understand the endangered Siberian tiger, a highly intelligent super-predator that can grow to ten feet long, weigh more than six hundred pounds, and range daily over vast territories of forest and mountain.

Whatever it was made the tiger change direction, and he stalked this new information with a single-minded intensity that would have been chilling to behold. The man-eater in question did not stop at one. Investigators could see that there was purpose to this cat. Tigers do not normally prey on people. But this one went out of his way to hunt down his first victim. It is no wonder that locals consider some tigers to be more than merely human. Some are thought to be imbued with a supernatural aspect, making these already pretty scary critters even more terrifying. Vaillant tells of the investigation and its conclusions. Along the way he offers a picture of this remotest part of Russia, and many of the very colorful characters who have called it home, past and present. The area appears to have more in common with the American wild west than with a vid-phone-chatting 21st century. Our roundup of books about tigers includes several that draw attention to the plight of these magnificent big cats and the humans who risk their lives to protect them. Tigers, like sharks, are solitary hunters existing from one kill to the next—exercising abstract thinking in the process.This true book is about a man-eating tiger in rural Russia in 1997. The tiger is committing killings that are clearly retribution, not random. I also really liked the overall message of self belief and the power you have to change the world. I couldn’t help feeling very inspired myself! I can see how this might impact a child as they read it too. Much is made of what the author thinks is inside the mind of the tiger. He attributes all kinds of unsubstantiated things to the animal that he grossly anthropomorphizes. The two “murdered” men are ethnic Russians, the first a poacher who helps eke out his meager livelihood with illegal tiger hunting if the opportunity arises. Actually, he stole boar remains from a tiger’s kill. That’s what started the trouble and shows his own desperation. Poachers can sell anything tiger to meet the Chinese demand for whatever can be cut or stripped from an animal. The second man was alone in the tiger’s territory but not a poacher. An official Russian group is part of the story. They are trying to stop poachers, protect the tigers and are drawn in when this desperate tiger must be killed to protect the people in the area. As he re-creates these extraordinary events, John Vaillant gives us an unforgettable portrait of this spectacularly beautiful and mysterious region. We meet the native tribes who for centuries have worshipped and lived alongside tigers, even sharing their kills with them. We witness the arrival of Russian settlers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, soldiers and hunters who greatly diminished the tiger populations. And we come to know their descendants, who, crushed by poverty, have turned to poaching and further upset the natural balance of the region. First I recognised the name Urizen (°*waves to friend who used this an an online alias*°), but I have not read William Blake, and it seems that much of the entire mythos in this book is based off those writings. The author certainly lingers on the tiger's symmetry and the the spelling of Tyger is straight from Blake's poem of the same name.