Jean Leroy

I glanced at this, briefly, when I first received a review copy for Cybils and then added it to the massive stack of books to read and review. When I finally got around to reading it thoroughly, I fell in love.

Stripes is a small cat with a BIG personality. In fact, excuse me, he is not a cat at all, he is a tiger! Stripes does his best to live up to his idea of himself as a great hunter and a frightening creature, but his owner is not at all appreciative. When his owner takes him to the zoo show more to meet a real tiger, Stripes realizes what he really wants to be... and makes it come true.

I absolutely love the twist in the end of this story. SPOILER Rather than having the little cat learn that it's just as good to be little, or to be content with what you are, it turns out that he was just in the wrong place all the time.

The art is delightful with lots of bright colors and the faces are hilarious. The personality of each character, from the parrot sticking out its tongue to Stripes' stubborn face to the bored tiger, are just right and will keep readers giggling through the whole story.

This translation of a Canadian (French) title from 2010 garnered positive reviews but seems to have flown under the radar for most of its recent release. I strongly suggest that changes and people get on the Stripes bandwagon. ROAR!

Verdict: This will make a hilarious read-aloud for a wide variety of ages and I highly recommend it.

ISBN: 9781441321848; US (English) edition published 2016 by Peter Pauper Press; Review copy provided by the publisher for Cybils; Donated to the library show less

A cute children's book about the benefits of using good manners, and the dangers of taking advantage of people with good manners. The art style was colorful and simple, good for younger readers. Overall I thought it was quite cute, and donated it to a neighbor who works with small children so that it would be enjoyed by a more age-appropriate audience.

Top 100 pick because:

Full of wit. The art style and tone of the story work perfectly together. I have no problem with the ending. The way it's portrayed is so clever and funny I can't fault the slight ambiguity of the narrative (although really it's pretty obvious what happens). This has been compared to the style of Jon Klassen and I can see that. I like this better than his work though, as I don't tend to get Klassen's style.

This book manages to be one of the more charming horror stories I've read recently. The conceit is wolves must grant last wishes. Not surprisingly, prey takes advantage of this to slip away while their wish is being fulfilled. The moral *might* be that being polite will save your life. Or it might be that deceit is best to keep EVERYone alive. I'm not sure. Ambiguous, shall we say.