Jack and his pet tiger Lily live happily in an apartment building in the city, until a grumpy new landlord with a dog takes over and orders Lily to leave.
This is a humorous little fantasy about a boy and his tiger. (Make sure it stays in the fantasy realm, though--please don't be inspired to keep an actual tiger in an apartment.) The storyline is pretty familiar though; it's nothing new in the world of kids' entertainment.
Cute and a little humorous in the idea of the story. A good filler in a storytime. Some of the illustration humor might get lost to a storytime crowd, but I don't think that would be detrimental. And what child wouldn't love the idea of a well-behaved, well-beloved pet tiger?
P.S. Love the tiger's full name!
4/19/10 I thought this was a good bedtime story with an easy plot and a smile, so I used it as my opener in PJ storytime. I think it worked well. It held the group's attention, even if the group was very small. I think it will still work for a preschool group, too.
10/10/12 & 10/11/12: This was a good filler in the middle of my Cats & Dogs preschool theme. It was a solid story that interested the kids. The illustrations were over their heads as far as the time period. But their faces were classic when I asked if they'd like a tiger for a pet.
What a treasure. Sure, the basic plot is nothing new--prejudiced authority figure doesn't like given animal, somehow given animal saves the day and authority figure's opinions are overcome. The fun part is putting a tiger in the mix. As if there is nothing all that unusual about having a tiger for a pet and best friend. The pictures, of course, are wonderfully clever and work so well with the text. I enjoyed willingly suspending my disbelief that the big argument against a tiger for a neighbor is not because it is a wild animal, a carnivore, belongs-in-a-zoo, or anything. The anti-tiger people merely don't like cats. Totally tickles me.
Jack and his tiger, Lily lived at #33 River Street, and did every thing together. When Mr. Mildew Mud, who doesn't like cats of any kind, buys the building and wants Lily gone by the next morning Jack and Lily find themselves in a fix. But fate intervenes, and Mr. Mud has a change of heart.