Is This a Tiger? (Alex's Field Guides, #2) by Elina Ellis
Series: Alex's Field Guides #2
Published by Kids Can Press on September 3, 2024
ISBN: 1525306758
Genres: Animals, Nature
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Source: MSL Book Review
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Alex, who knows everything about tigers, is going to show one to Atticus, who has never seen one at all. However, Alex is stingy with her details, only divulging one at a time to poor Atticus. When Alex says tigers are stripy, Atticus comes back with a zebra and some lemurs. When she tells him tigers have big teeth, he comes up with a walrus and a shark! Then she divulges that tigers are nocturnal, so he visits with bats and, unfortunately, a stinky skunk.

Interspersed with all the potentially life-threatening (occasionally unpleasant) hints, the reader keeps seeing pages from Alex’s Tiger Journal which does provide important facts about tigers. For example, there are various species of tiger and the remaining ones are endangered. In the end, Atticus finally combines all the clues and finds a real, live tiger. The final colorful, humorous illustration is of Alex pulling her friend to safety. The end of the book includes a guide to the non-tiger animals they met along the way, as well as a list of Resources including ways we can help and where to find additional information about tigers.

This book is recommended for 4-8 year-olds. I think it would make for an uneven read-aloud since the journal pages contain much more information and smaller illustrations than the rest of the book. However, the main story with the two kids is humorous, colorful, and lively.

Recommended by Crystal Wilder, University of Southern Maine, Gorham Campus Library