Bengal Tiger

Animals Under Threat
by Richard Spilsbury

My daughter is in a phase of wanting to read only "true books" with facts in them "so I can learn stuff." Thus she picked out a stack of j nonfiction featuring animals. Some of them are a bit above her level, so they take us a while to work through. We've been reading this book together for the past week. I would say it's written for kids over eight, the language can be a bit dry and technical and we had to pause many times on each page for me to explain things and answer questions. There certainly was a lot to learn about!

The book describes the needs of tigers, what kinds of habitat and prey will support them. My daughter liked reading about their physical attributes and how baby tigers grow up. She was dismayed when the book talked about how tigers are killed for their skins and body parts (used in traditional medicines) but then it goes on to explain what measures are being taken against poachers- banning the sale of tiger parts, protection in tiger reserves, etc. The book ends on a more positive note, discussing what is being done to help tigers- how zoos and conservation groups help, how tourism affects tigers (both good and bad) and even what individuals can do for tigers. There is also a section that tells how tigers were hunted historically, and mentions Jim Corbett; how he used to hunt man-eating tigers but then grew to appreciate their beauty and turned to photographing and filming them instead. Altogether this a very information-packed book for kids, with stunning photos that kept my young listener attentive when the text got too advanced for her.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 48 pages, 2004