My Tiger
by Joy Cowley
illustrated by David Barrow
Gecko Press, 2026. 32 pages.
Review written May 6, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review
Reading this picture book at my desk made me laugh out loud and push it on my coworkers. Not to give anything away, but this is going on my Pinterest board with the title “Books Where Someone Gets Eaten.” (I once had a librarian coworker whose favorite picture books were all in that category.)
The story here is simply and beautifully told. We see a child – a Black kid who wears glasses, a striped shirt and shorts, and a pleasant smile on his face – and his tiger, who is about ten times as big as he is.
There aren’t many words on each page, and the story is effectively told with the help of the pictures. The first spread says, “My Tiger loved cake.” And the picture is of the kid pointing ahead as they pass a Patisserie with an abundance of cakes in the shop window.
The next page says, “I took him to the cake shop.”
As the tiger eats, the baker asks if he’s dangerous.
“No,” I said, “He only eats cake.”
But alas! After consuming large quantities of cake, the tiger gets a bad tooth. So the kid drags him to the dentist.
A haughty dentist asks the same question as the baker and gets the same answer. The kid has quite a time (shown in the pictures) of getting the tiger to sit in the dentist chair. The tiger howls and growls as the work is being done.
After she finishes up, the dentist tells the kid that the tiger must eat no more cake.
“Then what can he eat?” I said.
“The same as other tigers,” she said.
What happens after that is what made me laugh out loud.
So – this isn’t a book for parents who are trying to teach their children that they can’t survive on cake. Probably not for children afraid of the dentist, either. (Or maybe it would be therapeutic?) But for kids and grown-ups who enjoy a silly story with beautiful pictures and a fitting ending? This picture book is just right.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Book/my_tiger.html
Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.
Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
Subscribe for more reviews and talk about books.
Join the conversation: What did you think of this book?