Judith KerrThe Tiger Who Came to Tea

I saw this as a film on tv at Christmas, and thought it would make a great gift for my great Grandson.

Lovely book & story, perfect for young children

Product arrived punctually and was perfect. Nice story inspired by historical events of WWII.

Judith Kerr tells the delightful picture book story for the under-5s of a tiger who invites himself to tea with Sophie and her mother and eats them out of house and home before leaving, never to return. The story is told in the third person from the point of view of an omniscient narrator. But as we shall see the story is really Sophie’s story. It is Sophie’s imaginative interpretation of what we may suppose “really happened”. It is told in her language and within the limitations of her understanding. Through the “willing suspension of disbelief” as Coleridge described the phenomenon by which a reader enters into the imaginative world of a writer, the notion of an English speaking tiger being invited into someone’s home and consuming a large quantity of food and drink is perfectly reasonable and acceptable. It is, however, a basic tenet of all fiction that the world created by an author should be logically coherent. The reader must be able to recognise that what happens in the story is possible within the parameters of the story if not in actual reality. Anything not consistent with the internal logic of the story is either a mistake or a clue to something else going on. There are several such “mistakes” in The Tiger Who Came to Tea. But these mistakes turn out, on closer inspection, to be authorial clues, first to the fact that the story is the product of Sophie’s imagination and, secondly, to enable the reader to reconstruct, partially at least, the story behind the story. The events in the story if told from the mother’s point of view would have been rather different, and mundane. The first clue that all is not what it seems occurs when it is said that the tiger drank “all the water in the tap”. This strange expression can be interpreted to mean simply that the tiger drank a large quantity of tap water directly from the tap in the kitchen sink. However, after the tiger has left and Sophie is preparing to have her bath it is stated that she couldn’t have a bath because “the tiger had drunk all the water in the tap”. This is clearly impossible. There would only have been no water if the local water authorities had turned off the supply but there is no reason to suppose this to have been the case. In the child’s imagination it must have seemed as though the tiger had drunk so much that there could not possibly be any water left for a bath. The second clue is a visual one. Daddy decides that the family should go to a local café to eat. Sophie is already dressed only in her nightdress ready to go to bed, but instead of putting her day clothes back on, she merely puts a coat over her nightdress and a pair of wellingtons to go out on what appears to be a chilly autumn evening. This is too improbable to make sense. It is a clue that the visit to the café occurs only in Sophie’s imagination. There is further evidence for this when we are told that the meal consisted of “sausages and chips and ice cream”. This is a child’s idea of a “lovely supper” but does not seem a likely menu for a family dinner. This is the third clue. The fourth clue occurs the following day. Sophie and her mother go shopping and among the items they purchase is “a very big tin of Tiger Food”. Of course, there is no such thing. If it were possible to buy a tin of tiger food from the supermarket or corner shop, it would imply that semi domesticated tigers are a commonplace in the world created by the author but that would undermine the basis on which the story is founded, viz. that a tiger coming to tea is unique and surprising. The other clues are, first, the language used which is clearly a child’s way of speaking, for example, “Daddy’s beer’; the frequent use of the conjunctions “and” and “but”, and even the onomatopoeic “Owp!” Secondly, there are pictures that do not fit the text of the story. Before the story even begins we see Sophie riding on the back of the tiger in broad daylight. This does not happen in the story but indicates what the child imagines. From the clues the author has provided we may suppose that what really happened was that a stray cat came to the door – perhaps the one in the picture of the family walking to the café that looks like a miniature tiger – and they let him into the house and fed him. This simple incident was exaggerated into Sophie’s imaginative story. The tin of tiger food is just a tin of cat food, in case the creature came back. The pictures where Sophie is showing affection to the tiger perhaps indicates that she is lonely as an only child and perhaps with few friends. If there is a hidden message in the story, it is definitely not aimed at children. There is no authorial voice saying more or less explicitly, “You should behave like the good little girl in my story”. The message is perhaps aimed at the grown ups and is, “Don’t inhibit children’s gift of imagination”. The parents in the story accept Sophie’s version of events without quibble. Reality can wait.

Very good story. My daughter loved it and made me read it non stop for a couple weeks. It will be a classic

Brought this book for my godson. I read this story to all three of my children and it was a firm favourite. Lovely story and glad that it’s still around to read to the next generation

Great book, decent value

My Granddaughter loves books and it is so pleasing for someone so young at 18 months old to want family to read books to her and this is one of her books of choice

"The Tiger Who Came to Tea" by Judith Kerr is a timeless classic that has woven its way into the hearts of both children and parents alike. Kerr's enchanting tale of an unexpected guest, a tiger, turning an ordinary teatime into a whimsical adventure is a joy to read aloud. The vivid illustrations bring the story to life.Beyond the surface, the tale subtly explores themes of hospitality, unexpected surprises, and the joy of embracing the extraordinary in the ordinary. But also the absence of the tiger at the end of leaves room for various interpretations. One common interpretation is that the tiger's departure symbolizes the transient and magical nature of childhood imagination. The story unfolds as a fantastical adventure, and the sudden appearance and disappearance of the tiger could represent the fleeting moments of childhood joy and imagination.Alternatively, it might also convey the idea that extraordinary moments can happen unexpectedly, bringing joy and excitement, but they don't necessarily linger. The tiger's departure leaves behind the memory of an extraordinary teatime, emphasizing the special nature of that singular event.Ultimately, the open-ended conclusion allows us to bring our own interpretations to the story, making it a delightful and thought-provoking read. This classic is a timeless addition to any children's bookshelf. 🐅 👧🏼 🫖📖

Meu filho tem 2 anos e adorou a história! Excelente livro! Entrega rápida

Wonderful book for kids in the 2 to 6 range. A little bit scary (what will the tiger eat next?) but a happy ending. A bit dated (Mum stays home and cooks dinner for Dad). And if you’re someone who believes gluten is the devil’s food and we shouldn’t eat meat, you’re not going to like Dad’s beer-drinking, the sausages in the cafe, nor all the lovely cakes and buns that Mum makes. But if you’re relatively normal you and your children will love this book as much as our kids and grandkids. (They made a musical out of it, too)

Livre à recommander, comme tous les livre de cet auteur. Les enfants sont émerveillés.

Uno dei primi libri in inglese da avere nella libreria dei nostri figli!