Tigerella

by Kit Wright

A Cinderella-like tale introduces the constellations through the adventures of a young girl named Ella, who appears to be normal in the daytime, but at the stroke of midnight becomes a huge jungle cat who travels the moonlit sky in search of adventure.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Kit Wright (born 17 June 1944 in Crockham Hill, Kent) is the author of more than twenty-five books, for both adults and children, and the winner of awards including an Arts Council Writers' Award, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Hawthornden Prize, the Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize and (jointly) the Heinemann Award. After a scholarship to Oxford University, he worked as a lecturer in Canada, then returned to England and a position in the Poetry Society. He is currently a full-time writer.

Reviews

[Maz Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember this book as a child and decided to buy it for my daughter as well, since I loved this story when I was a child - it really captured my imagination.
It is about a quiet polite little girl who at night becomes a tiger and runs so fast and jumps into the sky and interacts with the constellations and because of that, has a bit of a fantasy theme running through it - just for letting a young girls imagination run wild thinking about it.
I don't think this story is for pre-school or under, since the use of language is more suited for a 5-8year old.

[Sue Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fun and refreshing. The poem has moments of description, rhythm, pace and beauty. Ella clearly loves tigers and at the stoke of midnight turns into one...

I like the language in this book. The description of Ella as a tiger is great and the verbs chosen to describe her movements are lovely; loped, poured, glided, running, racing, and then her actions later in the poem; cuffed, biffed, battered, skittered, scattered... unusual, effective and distinct. I like the 'midnight stars', 'breathing dark' and 'mad moonlight', 'whispering Barley' and 'rolling moon' noun phrases. I like the use of personification too.

What is it about the moon that makes things magical? Ella jumbles, tumbles, tussles, hustles, wrestles and nestles the stars, the milky way, the bear and the mighty Orion.

This is a great book to share with a class and use as a model for writing.

[Zoe Hickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book includes some rhyme so would be good for the beginning stages of reading in KS1. The illustrations use lots of colours and lines to add detail. It also talks about night and day so could bring this concept to children’s attention. It also has some relation to real world with hidden meanings such as poaching that you could share with older children.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant story and quick to read this book.
The children loved this book very much

[jacky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Natalie and I were both drawn to this book because of the tiger on the cover. But the story wasn't so great. i didn't really love the idea of a polite girl who hides a tiger inside, and I didn't like how it was executed. i read this book upside down to Natalie as she ate lunch and i found that very difficult. Something about the flow of the sentences was off. I just didn't like the fantastical elements like Orion's bow.

[Danielle]

I love the idea of this book and could see it being very successful if updated.