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Summary
Summary
TOUCHES OF AESOP AND KIPLING mark James Rumford's fable about two unlikely rivals.
Tiger says he saw the flower first, but Turtle disagrees. Through pages of glorious color, Tiger and Turtle continue their argument. They're worthy opponents . . . as a tiger's claws could not harm a turtle's shell any more than a turtle's feet could outrun a tiger's. The battle intensifies, as does the artist's palette: from golds to fiery reds to luxuriant blues, as the two resolve their conflict and become friends.
Tiger and Turtle is a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Author Notes
JAMES RUMFORD is the author of SILENT MUSICE: A STORY OF BAGHDAD, an ALA Notable Children's Book, winner of a 2009 Jane Addams Honor, and a Charlotte Zolotow Award Honor. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Inspired by an Indian tale told to Rumford by an Afghani letter writer, this story recounts a quarrel between a tiger and turtle. They usually ignore one another, but when a flower falls between them, each one claims it. The fight that ensues sends the flower out of reach, and both animals seek revenge for their lost treasure. Tiger swats turtle dangerously high, but he lands safely in a pond. When tiger seeks solace in the same pond, turtle bites him and remains clamped to his back. To detach his tormentor, tiger springs forward, leading them both to a precipice. But "happily for them/and for [this] story," their landing is not disastrous, and they learn an important lesson in the bargain. Behind most illustrations are designs inspired by "those used by Indians and Pakistanis to decorate their shawls, rugs, and jali windows," painted on handmade Chinese paper. The stylized animals are heavily outlined in black and are striking against backgrounds of different gradations of orange. When tiger races away to shake off turtle, Rumford depicts his legs as thick black circles of motion resembling car tires. The brief text is well paced, with repeated rising and falling action, and the resolution of the most suspenseful moments requires a page turn. Read this tale aloud along with stories from Eunice de Souza's 101 Folktales from India (Penguin, 2005) for a lively storyhour.-Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Rumford (Silent Music) presents a tightly crafted fable about a contest of wills. The mismatched creatures of the title, Tiger and Turtle, don't have much to do with each other, "until the tiniest of flowers floated down out of the sky, borne aloft, we think, by a spring breeze." In a study of the way arguments escalate-whether between tigers and turtles, small children, or nations-the animals' weaknesses prolong the ensuing conflict and harden their resolve to win. Their inadvertent discovery that there are thousands of other flowers like the one they have been fighting over makes a suitable moral lesson. The animals are boldly stroked and simply colored; the intricacy lies in the background, composed of screenlike traceries of paisley textile designs from India and Pakistan with the grain of handmade paper visible underneath. Rumford's pyrotechnical imagination soars in the book's brief introduction, as he envisions an Afghan scribe telling him the tale, "twining a ribbon of Persian words across the page, whisper-singing the story." It's a tantalizing preview of a tale whose simplicity belies physical comedy and emotional truth. Ages 4-8. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
"Once upon a never time, there lived in the same forest a tiger and a turtle." Told in a voice that keeps the telling intimate ("The tiniest of flowers floated down out of the sky, borne aloft, we think, by a spring breeze"), Rumford's original tale describes how an argument over a flower results in an unlikely friendship. Tiger and Turtle are illustrated with only a few broad brushstrokes, the barest of lines successfully revealing their surprise, anger, or competitiveness. The portrayal of action, too, is minimal but conveys a great deal: Turtle, jumping to catch the airborne flower, displays impossibly long limbs, showing us how hard she's trying; with an angry, biting Turtle hanging onto his back, Tiger tears off, his legs looking like wheels to show his speed. The intricately patterned backgrounds, inspired by Indian and Pakistani decorations, pair well with the bold, simply outlined subjects, the orange-toned pages a vivid accent for the green turtle and yellow tiger. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.