School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Nora tells her grandma that she is bored. Even her stuffed giraffe Jeff is bored. Grandma suggests she visit the garden. She just might have seen a tiger there, among other wonders, she tells Nora. Feeling she is too old for such silly games, Nora and Jeff venture into the garden and are surprised by colorful dragonflies as big as birds. The child then discovers plants that want to eat her, a polar bear, and, eventually, the tiger. The tiger and Nora have a discussion about what is real. After spending the afternoon in the garden with the tiger, Nora returns to her grandma for dinner. She asks her grandmother if that was really a tiger in the garden. Grandma tells her that it is hard to tell sometimes, maybe it was just a ginger cat. Flat and folksy characters tell the main part of the story in conversational prose. Artistically flattened scenery with creative use of white space (to add dimension) work well together in the outdoor illustrations. Blurring the lines between imagination and reality, the abundance of green foliage looks as if it could either be a garden or a jungle. This British import reminds readers that boredom is just a state of mind and adventure awaits in outdoor play. VERDICT A solid choice for one-on-one and small group sharing.-Mindy -Hiatt, Salt Lake County Library Services © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Nora is bored, and when Grandma tells her that there's a tiger in her garden-as well as "dragonflies the sizes of birds and plants that can swallow you up whole!"-the girl is both skeptical and annoyed. "I'm too old for silly games!" she says. But readers can see a tiger tail poking out from the foliage, and since there's nothing else to do, Nora sallies forth. First-time author-illustrator Stewart portrays the garden with a Rousseaulike lushness and fantasy: dragonflies fill the sky with wings that look like stained-glassed windows, and among the flora are hungry-looking plants that resemble bright red lips with teeth. It may take readers a little while to warm to Nora, who initially seems more bratty than independent minded, but Stewart believably traces her thawing attitude in a way that shows how a bit of open-mindedness (and nudging) can lead to rewarding and unexpected adventures. And Nora more than meets her match in the sleek, unruffled tiger, who Grandma later admits might just be a ginger cat. "Are you real?" Nora asks. "I don't know," the tiger replies. "Are you?" Ages 4-7. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
