Dan Thompson, a comic artist best known for the satiric Rip Haywire and L’il Rip Haywire comic strips, steps into early chapter books in this new series from Random House Graphic.
The story opens with a plump, orange and white housecat scampering into the zoo. He makes his way to the tiger enclosure where Lily, a full-grown tiger, is napping, and loudly announces that he’s home. It turns out that Tig is convinced he is a tiger and the bewildered Lily finds herself accommodating his demands while starting to doubt which of them is the “real” tiger. A look at her enclosure sign reassures her, but when Tig disappears and meets the other tigers, how will he react to being told he’s just a housecat? Will Lily defend her new friend?
The cartoon art is bright and attractive; the cover shows the orange-striped Lily looking shocked while Tig, standing on his hind legs on a rock, cheerfully announces he’s a tiger. The anthropomorphic characterization continues throughout the story as the tigers walk about on their hind legs and the simple blue and green backgrounds make their bright oranges and Tig’s more subdued yellow-orange pop out. The simple art makes it easy for beginning readers to follow the dialogue as the characters move around the enclosure. Although some tiger facts are included at the end, as well as a guide to drawing the characters, there is no attempt to show natural tiger (or cat) behavior.
On the surface, this is a simple story following the plot line of numerous picture books like I am a Cat by Galia Bernstein and Stripes the Tiger by Berengere Delaporte, where a housecat claims kinship with a big cat. The odd couple friendship is the traditional motif of nearly all early readers, from Frog and Toad to Elephant and Piggie. However, some reflection on the underlying themes and actual behavior of the characters in this story should make librarians think twice about introducing it to their readers. Lily, a female, has her enclosure invaded and taken over by Tig, a male. He doesn’t just want to be recognized as a tiger—his identity as a tiger is dependent on gaslighting Lily into thinking she’s not a tiger. Lily, even as she tries to reassure herself of her own identity, finds herself falling in with Tig’s demands and remaking her space to suit him. When Tig is told by other tigers in the enclosure (an odd encounter considering both he and Lily have told the reader that tigers are solitary) that he is not a tiger, and Lily finds him crying, her immediate reaction is to defend him by reusing Tig’s arguments to confuse the other tigers about their own identity. The two depart as “friends” with Lily acknowledging Tig as a tiger, “You can be whatever you want to be” and asking him to stay with her, despite the fact that he shows no remorse for his behavior and does not reciprocate by acknowledging her identity in any way. This isn’t an example of friendship or supporting others’ identity, it’s a blueprint for an abusive relationship with underlying anti-trans rhetoric.
The cute cartoon art makes it tempting to automatically add this title without looking deeper; however, there are many, many better titles about identity, such as Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn by Shannon Hale and Shark Princess by Nidhi Chanani as well as a vast selection of beginning chapter comics modeling healthy friendships from Lemon Bird Can Help by Ganucheau to Shelby and Watts by Ashlyn Anstee. After reading and considering this title, I chose to cancel my order and do not recommend it as an addition to any school or library collection.
Tig and Lily, Vol. 1: Tiger Trouble
By Dan Thompson
Penguin Random House Graphic, 2023
ISBN: 9780593486283
Publisher Age Rating: grades K-3
NFNT Age Recommendation: Easy Readers (5-9)
