Tiger Skin Rug

By Author / Illustrator

Joan Haig

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Cranachan Publishing Limited

ISBN

9781911279648

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

06-02-2020

Synopsis

Nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2021. An old promise. A mysterious tiger. A Magical adventure.

Lal and his brother Dilip miss home. They don't like drizzle, midges, or the tiger skin rug in their creepy new house. All they want is to leave Scotland and go back to India. But that's before they make friends with Jenny, and before the tiger comes back to life... The tiger tells them it will take them home in return for their help: it cannot rest until it fulfils an old promise. Can Lal, Dilip and Jenny help it on its quest? Who is trying to stop them? And will they get back home? Fly into the night with this fabulous tale of adventure, friendship and what it means to find home.

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Reviews

Talking tigers, flying rugs and pancakes, what's not to like in Tiger Skin Rug, a brilliant debut novel from Joan Haig. The story follows young brothers Lal and Dilip who with their family have moved to Scotland from India. In the drawing room of their new home they discover a tiger skin rug, which turns back into a tiger when Dilip speaks to it. And the tiger needs their help to complete the mission it was on when it was shot, so it can finally be at peace.

With the help of their new friend Jenny (a bit of free spirit whose granny makes the most amazing pancakes), the kids come up with a plan to help the tiger. But the only clue they have is the name of an auction house in London, and the only way to get there - is by flying tiger! So starts a thrilling adventure of exploration, mystery and sleuthing that will take Lal, Dilip and Jenny far from Scotland. But danger is never far away, and who is the man with the snake on his jacket?

Joan Haig has written a really enjoyable and engaging story with Tiger Skin Rug. I felt it really captured the spirit, logic and sense of adventure younger kids have in their primary school years and that magic can still happen - as it does in the book. And this makes the story quite fantastical - who wouldn't want to fly on a tiger skin rug and explore different parts of the world?

The story developed at a steady pace which picked up when the tiger took flight, and made me want to keep on reading to find out what was going to happen next. There are a lovely range of characters in the book, especially Angela the hairdresser which also highlighted to me the kindness of strangers to help you, though Lal, Dipil and Jenny were savvy enough to be cautious at accepting this. The idea of 'home' runs through the novel, and home means different things to different people and is not always what we think it is as Lal finds out.

I hope readers will enjoy the adventures and journeys the kids go on, especially to India, and I hope they will be inspired to find out more about the country, tigers, street children and animal conservation. These themes make this an excellent novel to use with a class to introduce pupils to these themes and stimulate discussion.

Overall this is a wonderful book, full of adventure with a great plot and a touch of magic. In these difficult lockdown times, this is the kind of escape we can all enjoy - with or without a magic rug!

200 pages / Reviewed by Stephen Leitch, school librarian