Tigerella

A Cinderella-like tale introduces the constellations through the adventures of a young girl named Ella, who appears to be normal in the daytime, but at the stroke of midnight becomes a huge jungle cat who travels the moonlit sky in search of adventure.

PreSchool-Grade 2-Ella is a nice, well-behaved child during the day. At night, however, she literally changes into a tiger that can fly through dark and have exciting adventures with the stars as her playmates. Through lyrical language, Wright describes Tigerella creeping out of her house, leaping for the moon, battering and scattering the stars, and then sailing by glittering constellations. She plays with the great bear and is grazed by one of Orion the Hunter's arrows. The next morning, Ella is her polite, normal self, except that she has a scratch on her cheek-proof of her night's activities. Bailey uses pen and ink and watercolors to create pictures that are friendly in the daytime scenes and luminous at night. The words and pictures combine beautifully, each adding to the other's appeal. The tale maintains a playful mood and therefore can be mysterious without being frightening. The dramatic tone of the text and the vibrant illustrations make this a great choice for reading aloud to groups.
Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This atmospheric tale of a girl who turns into a sinuous big cat by moonlight achieves a Romantic spirit that might have pleased tyger expert William Blake. During the day, Ella is a polite red-haired child. But after bedtime, "at the midnight stroke/ ...a changed Ella woke": from beneath the blankets slinks a silent tiger, the hint of a smile on its face. Tigerella explores the lawn, then leaps into the firmament to cavort among the constellations. Several star formations are introduced in this way-Tigerella floats past the Swan, meets the Bear and is scratched by one of Orion's arrows before she returns to her garden in the wee hours. British poet Wright's sophisticated meters ("And then she was gathering pace through the whispering hay fields/ Running, racing, the beat of her heart in tune/ With the earth...") make reading aloud something of a challenge on the first run-through, and a certain dramatic flair is required to pull off such exclamations as "She tossed the stars about!/ Tigerella at play!" But the strange verse mostly adds to the fantasy element, and Bailey's richly hued yet straightforward illustrations enhance the accessibility. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

By day, Ella seems a well-behaved little girl. ``Ella, aren't you a treasure?'' coo the guests at her barbecue. But by night, Ella turns into Tigerella, a tiger-girl who leaps into the heavens, bites a piece off the moon, and plays with the constellations. After she has romped with a stellar swan and bear, Tigerella is shot at by Orion, the hunter, whose arrow grazes her cheek. She hurls the arrow back, and she and the bear fall to earth, landing right next to Ella's garden pond. They say goodbye, and Ella slinks back through her window and again becomes a little girl--with a mysterious scratch on her cheek. Wright, a well-known British poet, delivers an imaginative and beautifully told tale here. His language is both straightforward and soaring, and Bailey's illustrations are playful. (Picture book. 4-7) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 3-6. In a fiercely feminist variation of the Cinderella theme, a good little girl turns into a wild tiger at night. She flies through the sky, bumping and battering the stars up and down the Milky Way. Despite the wild activity, the story's a bit static, and the tone is somewhat condescending. What kids will like is the play with the Cinderella story. This docile kid is transformed not into a sweet princess, but into a powerful beast. The two kinds of illustration--sweet cartoons and wild fantasy--express the contrast between good manners and seething feeling. Hazel Rochman