One Happy Tiger

by Catherine Rayner

One tiger sits all alone, feeling sad. Then he finds two bright bugs, three colorful birds, and more, and soon he isn't sad anymore.

Children will learn to count from 1 to 10 as they travel with the tiger to each new adventure in this beautiful book of friendship.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Number, Animals, Storytime, Mathematics, Counting

24 pages, Board book

First published March 1, 2017

About the author

See also Catherine Rayner for works on the Bronte sisters

Award winning author and illustrator Catherine Rayner studied Illustration at Edinburgh College of art. She fell in love with the city and still lives there with her husband, young son and a handful of creatures: Shannon the horse, Ena the grey cat and a goldfish called Richard.

She finds huge inspiration in her pets and often uses them as models, frequently asking Ena to pose so that she can study her posture and movement. Then she translates sketches of Ena into characters such as dragons and hares, not to mention moose and bears! But it was creatures of a wilder kind that inspired her first picture book, Augustus and His Smile - Catherine spent hours and hours watching and sketching tigers (in freezing temperatures) at Edinburgh Zoo.

Winner of the 2009 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for her second book Harris Finds His Feet, Catherine has now been shortlisted four times for the award. She was also awarded the Best New Illustrator Award at the Booktrust Early Years Awards in 2006 and was named one of Booktrust’s ten Best New Illustrators in 2008. In 2010, she was the inaugural illustrator in residence at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. In 2012 Catherine’s book Iris and Isaac won the UKLA Children’s Book Award and the Dutch edition of Solomon Crocodile has been selected as PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2014 in The Netherlands by the CPNB.

Reviews

[Laura Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful. Counting book with exceptional illustrations. Reminds me of the 60's and early 70's books I grew up with. Wonderful!

[Cheryl A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh the vocabulary words! Thoughtful, curious, bouncing, etc.! This is a board book because the pictures are appreciable by thumb-suckers, but it is for sharing with someone older, not for trying to read by yourself when you're so tiny.

I just hope that he's not sad because he's the last tiger, and can't find friends of his own kind. That is to say, Diverse cross-species friendships are terrific , but so is the kind of intimacy and understanding within one's own tribe or clan.

Rayner has a magic touch and is on my auto-read list.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how this book showed some many different emotion words and that it showed the tiger having so many different moods. And I love how the book is so nonjudgmental about the different emotions.
I'm hopeful that books like this one can encourage us all to do a better job naming and recognizing our various emotions.

** Talking Points - What makes you feel lonely? What do you like thinking about? What do you like watching? What have been some surprises in your life that you loved? What are you curious about and want to learn more about? Describe your walk. Do you like dancing? What types of dance do you like to dance or what types of dance do you like to watch? What makes you smile? Do you like swimming? What are some of your favorite places to go swimming? What makes you happy? How do you try to make others happy? Who are some of your best friends?

** Essential Oil Pairing Tips - We first see Tiger alone and then see him exploring his world and enjoying life. For the times when you are alone and know that getting out would be good I feel that doTERRA's Brave essential oil blend designed especially for children (but great for adults as well!). Try rolling it on before reading this book.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in Great Britain in another format, this lovely board encourages readers to count all the critters that come join that one lonely tiger over the course of its pages. The illustrations capture the tiger's facial expressions and body language as his world gets filled with all sorts of visitors. I really appreciated the careful use of language here and how descriptive the text is. For example, near the end of the book as readers count from one to ten, on the page dedicated to nine, the text reads, "One splashy tiger and NINE splishy fish" (unpaged), phrases that are delicious for the tongue. It's easy to see why this tiger is quite content at the book's conclusion. This is one of the more attractive counting books that I've seen in quite a long time.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hard-bound, toddler-proof, beautifully illustrated counting book featuring a happy-to-be-alive tiger. It’s so perfect, your toddler will want to carry it around and read it again and again.
The book begins with “One sad tiger sitting alone.” Then the tiger meets two friends, “One thoughtful tiger and two bright bugs.” As the tiger meets new friends or explores new items, we explore his feelings as we count to ten. Award-winning artist Catherine Rayner’s illustrations capture the heart. They are simple, relaxing on the eyes, and somehow exquisite. The tiger is friendly-looking and happy to meet and greet the world. The book gently introduces insects, birds, feelings, and numbers.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations, solid as a counting book (you can always count the things, numbers appear as English words though not numerals), and all the tiger's different moods and the connections with the different animals are great.

I was a little disappointed that the ten at the end was a mix of some of several species encountered before as opposed to jumping up to the sum of all the preceding ones, but that's maybe ambitious for a board book...

[Julian Hilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, beautiful book. My daughter loves it.. before we were following stories.. we were leafing through this. The artwork is just lovely and the quality of the book feels really nice, both the colours and how it feels in the hand. Great for spotting things on a page too.

[Pi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Książeczka ów uczy maluchy liczyć i tyle. Jest ładnie zilustrowana, ale bazuje na innej tej autorki "Augustus and His Smile" - nawet, zdaje mi się, że identyczna ilustracja została wstawiona, a przynajmniej bardzo podobna. Dla mnie to nic szczególnego. Dobre do nauki liczenia - oczywiście.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Counting from 1 to 10
Tiger's emotions or movements include sad, thoughtful, watchful, surprised, curious, bouncing, dancing, smiling, splashy, and happy
Friends he meets include bugs, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bees, and fish

2021 storytime theme: Babies (Tails & Tales) Wild Animals

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful and adorable. Counting elements so it is helpful for learning numbers 1-10.

[Linda Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

love the illustrations

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute! Love the illustrations.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations!!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations accompany the transition from one lonely tiger through his delight in seeing more numbered delights until he leaves the book a happy tiger. A great gift book.

[Jenna Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful counting book

[Sarah Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sumptuous language and gorgeous pictures. What’s not to love? Classic counting book perfect to explore with children in the early years. They will love the big words.

[Jess El-Zeftawy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son got his face painted to look like a tiger and has been obsessed with them ever since. I checked this book out from the library and the illustrations are really good. The story is simple enough starting with a lonely tiger and each page adds friends counting all the way up to ten. This book is really sturdy with thick pages and it was the perfect size for little hands. All in all, it's an easy and fun bedtime read. Good for anyone learning to count and a bonus if you love tigers!

[M Aghazarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming--beautiful illustrations and encourages a sense of inquisitiveness

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this gorgeous book. The kid did too. Nice counting.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely little book to read, short and sweet with beautiful illustration to go with the words.

[Britni Brown-ODonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful beautiful illustration

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jasmine was delighted with this book. She said she read it by the pictures. When I read it to her, I too was delighted with the imagery.

[Miriam Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful art, and you can count the things.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet little read

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Happy Tiger by Catherine Rayner is a rare thing: a counting book you could proudly gift to a young child. It is SO beautiful, a really lovingly produced little hardback. A great size for little hands, with simply sumptuous illustrations, full of joy and playfulness and energy. It's a counting book that makes the world seem a little happier!