Lee is a tiny tiger who lives with his Mum in the safety of his treetop house. There he feels safe from the dangers of the dark jungle below. But one wild stormy night, Lee and his Mum are thrown to the ground and Lee is forced to face his fears in order to help her. A Tiger named Lee tells the story of a timid little tiger who refuses to leave his tree-top perch and go down to the jungle floor for fear of what may lie there. However, he and his Mum are thrown from the tree on a stormy night and the little tiger has to overcome his fears.
It's such a pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for A Tiger Named Lee by Sinéad Murphy, with illustrations by Shannon Cresham today. Many thanks to Tiny Tree Books and Kelly from Love Books Tours for inviting me and for sending me a copy of the book.
I used to love sharing picture books with my children and rhyming stories like this were always particularly well received, the flow of language making them a pleasure to read as well as to listen to. My youngest daughter is 13 so we moved on from these sorts of stories many years ago but fortunately I work in a primary school so had a whole class of Reception children to share it with!
The story is a lovely one; Lee is a nervous little tiger who refuses to leave the safety of his tree until a storm changes the way he sees things. There are plenty of opportunities for discussions as the book is being read and I asked the children to predict what would happen next or questions like 'did they think the jaguar would be kind or fierce?' I have no doubt it will be used in the future for circle time discussions about fear; it would be a wonderful story to share with children before they start school, with a new Reception class or prior to their transition to Year One.
The vibrant, colourful illustrations are beautiful and with the clear, energetic typeface and layout, it's a delightful story to look at as well as to read; the children all listened and joined in enthusiastically as we shared it together. One of my favourite aspects of the book is that there are some challenging words here - many primary schools are keen to promote a vocabulary-rich curriculum and with words such as 'foreboding', 'outrageous, and 'courageous', there are some ideal opportunities when reading A Tiger Named Lee to stop and ask the children what they thought a word means before letting them know the true definition. There were plenty of hands in the air when I read it to them which is always a good indication of how much they're enjoying a story!
Before reading the book to the children, I explained that we were very lucky and had been sent the book because people wanted to know what we thought of it. Afterwards I asked if they'd enjoyed it and was met with a very enthusiastic "YES!" They loved the illustrations - especially the monkeys (with their strange looking gizzards!) and said their favourite part was seeing the other animals helping Lee and him making friends.
A Tiger Named Lee definitely gets a resounding thumbs up from the children and from me too - it's an engaging, rewarding story to share at home or in the classroom, I highly recommend it.
A Tiger Named Lee will be published by Tiny Tree Books on 17th June and can be pre-ordered here.
Don't miss the rest of the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
Sinéad Murphy is an Irish author, television Director, and filmmaker. 'A Tiger named Lee' is Sinéad's debut picture book, published in 2021 by Tiny Tree Children's Books. Sinéad wrote ‘A Tiger Named Lee,’ for her young daughter to show her that it’s normal to have fears and worries and that help is always there if you ask for it.
About the Illustrator
Shannon Cresham is an illustrator based in the UK with a love of nature, fantasy, and fairytales with a colourful twist. She graduated from Birmingham City University with a BA in Illustration in 2019, and particularly enjoys designing characters. ‘A Tiger Named Lee' is Shannon’s first illustrated book to be published.
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