Don't think of tigers

The speaker in this silly metafictive picture book promises to draw whatever readers or listeners picture in their heads, but instructs, "DON'T THINK OF TIGERS!" Of course, tigers of all sorts and in all styles show up constantly in the humorous, boldly colored illustrations. An enjoyable read-aloud that, with the help of an author's note, encourages young artists to take risks and "make BAD PICTURES!" (c) Copyright 2024. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Quick--think about something other than tigers! The author of this delightful, interactive book promises to draw anything the reader can imagine. That is, anything other than tigers, which are too difficult. As the reader repeatedly fails to stop thinking about tigers, each page fills up with not-quite-right big cats rendered in a variety of artistic styles. A tiger with eight legs. A coffee-drinking tiger in a tie, with a long, noodlelike tail. A deconstructed tiger, its body parts scattered across the page. A mer-tiger. As the end of the book approaches, the narrator nearly gives up before coming to a realization: After all that practice, the narrator's tiger-drawing skills have improved dramatically. Instead of trying to get the reader to think of something besides tigers, the narrator now asks the reader to envision a detailed tiger, which the narrator will then depict. With that completed, it's the narrator's turn to think of something for the reader to draw. A note at the end explains how the author internalized the message of the book: that "making bad pictures is part of learning to make good ones." Latimer's dynamic visuals ramp up the energy, while his humorous text encourages readers to try new things of all kinds, embrace doing them badly at first, and keep going. A creative, lighthearted way to nurture a growth mindset.(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.