It's hard to love a tiger by Anna Pignataro

Scholastic, 2018. ISBN 9781743817582
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Tigers. Friendship. Difference. Pets. Our sweet heroine would love to have a tiger to love, just like the one in the zoo. In pairs of rhyming lines, the story is laid out from the first page, as the ominous word, 'but' appears along the bottom. Turning the page the reader hears of the negative things about owning a tiger, all in rhyme and all very funny, using repetition, prediction and humour to involve and delight the readers.
Walking down the street, she finds that others are rather worried when the tiger greets them with a roar. Brushing his teeth at night takes a lot of patience when he growls like a bear. Or trying to love him when you are a pastry shop and he covers himself with a sticky mess. And in the ballet class where he gallops rather fetchingly in her pink tutu.
Each double page presents the tiger in a hilariously funny situation, absolutely the opposite of what children will expect a tiger to be.
It will be a neat segue into ideas about what a tiger really does do, and where he lives and what he eats, using the places shown in the book.
Colourful watercolour, pen and charcoal illustrations full of movement and interest are on every page and its fun to watch the expressions on the children's faces as they become quite disheartened with having a tiger to stay. But by the end he is so much fun, that everyone is delighted with having a tiger as a pet, even with his animal friends popping around. Children will respond with stories of their own pets and friends to this book filled with fun and a delight to read aloud.
Fran Knight