Tiger Woman

by Laurence Yep, Robert Roth (Illustrator)

When she refuses to share her food with a beggar, an old woman finds herself transformed into various animals, until she learns a lesson about greed

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

Paperback

First published August 1, 1995

About the author

Born June 14, 1948 in San Francisco, California, Yep was the son of Thomas Gim Yep and Franche Lee Yep. Franche Lee, her family's youngest child, was born in Ohio and raised in West Virginia where her family owned a Chinese laundry. Yep's father, Thomas, was born in China and came to America at the age of ten where he lived, not in Chinatown, but with an Irish friend in a white neighborhood. After troubling times during the Depression, he was able to open a grocery store in an African-American neighborhood. Growing up in San Francisco, Yep felt alienated. He was in his own words his neighborhood's "all-purpose Asian" and did not feel he had a culture of his own. Joanne Ryder, a children's book author, and Yep met and became friends during college while she was his editor. They later married and now live in San Francisco.

Although not living in Chinatown, Yep commuted to a parochial bilingual school there. Other students at the school, according to Yep, labeled him a "dumbbell Chinese" because he spoke only English. During high school he faced the white American culture for the first time. However, it was while attending high school that he started writing for a science fiction magazine, being paid one cent a word for his efforts. After two years at Marquette University, Yep transferred to the University of California at Santa Cruz where he graduated in 1970 with a B.A. He continued on to earn a Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1975. Today as well as writing, he has taught writing and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to round up to four stars because I would have enjoyed it as a child and I think others will, too. Funny, in a slapstick sort of way, with an earnest message about sharing, which is a message we cannot be reminded of too often.

OwnVoices, but from the era when author's notes weren't recognized as important so please forgive it for that. The mention that is from a Shantung folk song is sufficient.

Btw, I only learned a few years ago, so I'm telling you now, bean curd is tofu and, cooked right, can be delicious as well as healthful.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exaggerated features and expressive gestures illustrate this delightful folk story about a greedy old woman who gets her comeuppance. Based on an old Shantung folk song, it’s part prose and part rhyme and proceeds busily with agreeable speed as the old woman goes from one awkward transformation to another. Unlike many stories about magical transformation, this one agreeably surprises as the old woman manages to wrestle herself out of her dilemma. The watercolor pictures are filled with bold and unusual color juxtapositions, such as fuchsia, lavender and pink with orange, blue and peach. It makes this a superb picture book as well as a winning story.

[Danielle Witter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was pretty interesting. It teaches you to think before you speak.

Summary: A greedy old woman sits on her doorstep eating bean curd. When a poor old man asks her to share some of her food, she pokes the old man with her chopsticks and says, “ I’m a tiger when I’m famished, so be gone, old beggar, vanish!” The old man does as she says, but not before making the mean old woman’s words came true. Because of what they beggar did, she turned into a tiger when she finished eating and literally became the tiger woman. She was chased away by guards, and somehow always found food while trying to escape and hide. Whenever she was about to eat the food she would say that she was some kind of animal, and when she finished the food she would turn into that animal. Towards the end of the book she had said that she was a pig and someone found her and was about to cook her, when she realized the old man was right, and that she should have shared with him to begin with and she turned back into a woman again.

How to use this book with students: Since the book is intended for 3rd graders you could teach them the same lesson that is in the book. Which is you should think before you speak, because you never know what will happen when you just blurt out what you are thinking.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old Shantung folk song tells the story of a greedy old woman who refuses to share her food with a beggar. He, being a magician, casts a spell on her so that she changes from one animal to another, until she just wants to be herself again.

The author has used this old folk song and retold it in story form, incorporating some of the verses of the song into the story. There are several cultural Chinese values in this story that are good for lower elementary ages -- be kind, share, and don't try to be something that you are not. Robert Roth's rich and lively watercolor illustrations add to the entertainment. Ages 4-10.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old woman is very selfish; she will not share her food with a hungry old man who asks for some of her food. He puts a spell on her; every time she thinks about an animal she turns into that animal. Eventually, she learns her lesson and is changed back into herself.