Tiger Brother: A Tale Told in English and Chinese (Stories of the Chinese Zodiac)

by Jian Li

Changsheng’s father brings home a homeless tabby kitten. However, as the kitten grows older, they realize that it's actually a little tiger. Soon Changsheng and the little tiger become so attached to each other. Wearing a tiger-head hat made by his mother, Changsheng and the little tiger become best brothers. However, the villagers are scared of the tiger. Changsheng has no choice but to send the little tiger back to the mountains. The little tiger promises that it will return in times of need. All Changsheng has to do is to put on his tiger-head hat and yell “Tiger Brother” from the top of the mountain. One day a gang of robbers appear in the village. Since the villagers are unable to resist the robbers, Changsheng runs up to the top of the mountain, yelling for his tiger brother. The tiger brother and his brave tiger friends arrive to their rescue, driving away all the robbers out of the village. The tiger brother returns to the mountains, but it keeps its promise to Changsheng forever. A story about bravery, love, and promise, it also introduces the characteristics of people born in the Year of the Tiger, the origin of the Siberian tiger, and the history of the tiger-head hat.

Genres: Picture Books, Asian Literature, Childrens

42 pages, Hardcover

Published January 25, 2022

Reviews

[Jessica]

A boy has a tiger for a brother, but his village gets uncomfortable having a tiger so nearby and sends the tiger away. But when a band of thieves comes, they need the tiger to rescue them. Very enjoyable story and illustrations.

[Ming Ma]

Beautiful water color, familiar storyline that is rather predictable. My son and I read this at night, he said it made him sad when the tiger went away. He still doesn't understand how the tiger can talk suddenly.

[Melanie Gaum]

I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Ronda Canary]

Beautiful book

[Kathy]

Good story with beautiful illustrations. I've been doing Chinese on DuoLingo and it was very fun to look at the Chinese text and identify familiar characters and learn new words.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.