Children’s books are truly magical and special – not only do they tell some excellent stories, they transport the minds of young readers to whimsical worlds, spark curiosity, and create lifelong memories. Packed with tales of adventure, mischief, magic and mayhem, children’s stories bring families together for cosy bedtime stories and help support independent reading. But these books are not just for bedtime reading, in the case of The Tiger Who Came to Tea, written and illustrated by Judith Kerr, teatime is purrfect.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a timeless classic and has delighted generations since its first publication in 1968. It’s a simple yet charming story, packed with an element of delightful absurdity with its very hungry anthropomorphised tiger that makes it one of those books that children will love to read, re-read and keep on reading.
The plot of the story is that young Sophie is sitting in the kitchen with her mother, both of them are enjoying their tea. When an unexpected knock on the door causes some confusion as to who it can be, Sophie answers the door to a rather different guest … a rather large, stripey tiger that can talk. He explains that he is very hungry and asks to have tea with them, and Sophie agrees. The tiger is offered some food but rather than just eating what has been offered he proceeds to eat ALL the sandwiches, ALL the buns, ALL the biscuits and ALL the cake, all of which make him thirsty. He then proceeds to drink ALL the milk in the milk jug and ALL the tea in the teapot. But he still wasn’t satiated. He went through the kitchen eating ALL the food cooking for supper, ALL the food in the fridge and ALL the packets and tins he finds in the cupboards and then quenched his thirst with ALL the milk, ALL the orange juice (I wonder if that’s to keep his stripey fur orange), ALL Daddy’s beer and even ALL the water in the tap. But despite the tiger eating and drinking EVERYTHING, he is also polite and thanks Sophie and her mum for the tea and then leaves, never to return.
Overall, The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a really fun and enjoyable read. What would you do if you had just sat down to tea and a hungry tiger knocks at your door asking for food? Would you be like Sophie and let it in? Well Sophie did, leaving us to enjoy the story as much as the tiger loved his tea.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a charming picture book that children will adore. Despite the story featuring a rather large and very hungry tiger, it is not a scary story, there is no panic, it is a story of a rather polite and hospitable teatime, albeit with Sophie and her mum left in wide-eyed wonder.
While the story is simple and fun, the illustrations (also by the author Judith Kerr) are excellent – simple, elegant and very expressive, capturing both the sheer joy of the story and the tiger’s mischievous charm.
The story itself may be absurd – who lets a tiger in for tea? But it is written well and all feels perfectly natural — a testament of storytelling genius.
A fantastic story about an outlandish tea party. A great story for getting children’s imagination whirling and asking lots of questions, a wonderful story for children to really engage with.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea is an essential addition to any child’s bookshelf. And possibly a cautionary tale for keeping emergency biscuits (or tiger food) on hand, just in case another unexpected guest turns up.
A fun and simple read with excellent illustrations that children will love and engage with.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £7.99 (Paperback)
Available to buy from Amazon here.
