The Last Tiger: A Story of Hope

by Becky Davies, Jennie Poh (Illustrator)

Overview

In this timely story of the effects of climate change, Aasha the tiger watches her beautiful home change right before her eyes—and is forced to find another place to call home.

Aasha the tiger loves her beautiful forest home, full of tigers, boars, and other animals. But one day, the forest begins to change. The hot days became hotter. The wet days became wetter—so wet, in fact, that there are floods that force many of the animals to find other places to live. And then the humans enter the forest and begin taking down the trees, which forces Aasha out. Will she ever find a new place to call home? Includes back matter on climate change and conservation efforts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781680102727
Publisher:	Tiger Tales.
Publication date:	02/22/2022
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.80(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Becky Davies is the author of the award-winning Little Turtle and the Sea, among many other children's books. When she’s not writing, Becky likes to spend time outdoors in her garden or going on adventures with her dog, Moon. She lives in the South West of England.


Jennie Poh was born in London and spent her formative years in Malaysia, returning to the UK at the age of nine. She fell in love with the Norfolk countryside, and feels a deep connection with nature and conservation which influences her work. Jennie now lives in Surrey with her two daughters and two marmalade cats.

Editorial Reviews

In this companion to Little Turtle and the Changing Sea (2021), a tiger finds herself in peril this time. Bright-orange Aasha and her fellow tigers stand out amid the lush green forest and abundant wildlife, but soon sunny days become hotter and rainy days become wetter until there’s a flood. While the adorable tiger loves swimming in the newly formed watery playground, she notices that other animals, like the boars, have lost their grazing grounds and are leaving. With the boars—her favorite meal!—gone, Aasha starts to run out of food as well. As she finds herself alone among stumps, forest colors also begin to fade. A dark, nighttime scene transitions the story to the cause of the deforestation and disappearing wildlife: humans and machines with “bright silver teeth.” Wandering solo, Aasha notices another orange spot—an orangutan friend—and together they search for a new home. Once again, verdant colors and wildlife return in an untouched land. Back matter offers more information on tiger habitats, deforestation, and climate change to little conservationists. —Booklist

From the Publisher

01/01/2022

K-Gr 2—Aasha is a tiger facing rapid climate change and habitat loss. Tigers and other animals disappear around her, until her entire forest home is razed by machines and she finds herself completely alone in a bleak deforested landscape with just one other animal left, an orangutan named Teman. Together Aasha and Teman forge a friendship and find a new, pristine forest to live in. The plot has a couple of small holes, vacillating between verisimilitude and metaphorical fantasy. Aasha refers to the boar as her favorite meal and yet befriends and travels with the orangutan, for whom tigers are a natural predator. And while ending a story about climate change with a hopeful outcome is certainly developmentally appropriate for the intended audience, no avenues for change are offered and the idea that displaced animals can simply walk to a new forest provides shallow comfort. Back matter contains a letter from the creators, a glossary, and short lists of some animals that are extinct and other endangered animals that can still be saved. VERDICT Packing an emotional punch, this book provokes appropriate concern for habitat loss, but it misses the mark with a slightly disjointed narrative and contrived happy ending.—Mallory Weber

School Library Journal