Judith Kerr

A little girl and her mother invite a tiger in for tea - but tigers are not satisfied with just tea.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

Sarah Sammis

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr was published in 1968 and was recently turned into a stage play in London. Children's books as theater seems to be having a renaissance of sorts. My inner child is feeling miffed at missing the show.

A mother and daughter sit down to tea (a most wonderful excuse for a mid afternoon snack) when the doorbell unexpectedly rings. The daughter asks who it could be but all the mother can say is that it won't be daddy because he has a key. Upon opening the door they are greeted by a tiger.

When faced with a hungry tiger at the door, there are only two things you can do: slam the door and hide, or invite him in and hope for the best. They invite him in. Although polite (in that he doesn't eat them), the tiger is ravenous. He eats and drinks them out of house and home, including drinking all the water out the tap!

The parents' matter-of-fact reaction to the absurdities of a talking tiger coming to tea and devouring everything is priceless. Their deadpan solutions: go out to a cafe for dinner and buy a giant tin of tiger food is just the perfect solution to a silly book.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr is for me, a forgotten childhood favorite. The glee of sitting down with my grandfather as he read it to me had slipped my memory until I had to catalog a copy.

When I was a child I had a toy tiger I took everywhere. I used to imagine that he would under very special circumstances come to life as a man-sized (sort of like Tony the Tiger but cooler) talking tiger. He'd take me to school and make the cool kid. You can imagine then how The Tiger Who Came to Tea played into that fantasy a bit.

This classic story has been loved by millions of children since it was first published 30 years ago. This special anniversary edition celebrates its timeless appeal. Perfect for reading aloud, or for small children to read to themselves again and again, this modern classic is now on almost every recommended reading list for pre-school children.

The Tiger who Came to Tea

Jim Hagan

Andrea Pozo

Gavin

Perseus Allen

Kaya

Ian Marchant 

Samantha Shepherd 

A tiger comes to tea at Sophie's house and eats and drinks everything in sight, so that there is nothing left for Daddy's supper.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

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