Homeschool Friday - A Tiger in the Tall Grass

Homeschool Friday is a feature here at Somewhere Only We Know that showcases books my family reads during homeschool and provides a mini-review for each.

A Tiger in the Tall Grass (Animal Adventures)

By: Heather Horn

Illustrated By: Victoria Skakandi

Publication: January 1, 2024 by The Good and the Beautiful, Level-2

68 pages

Genre: Children's, Picture Book, Christian, Educational, Early Chapter Book

Source: Personal Library

( Goodreads | The Good and the Beautiful )

*Note: The above link to The Good and the Beautiful is not an affiliate links.

Goodreads description--Adventure is always a step away for young tiger cubs Kash, Reva, and Lata. Their curiosity keeps their mother, Tara, on her feet! What will the cubs discover as they explore the tall grass, splash in the water, and wander a little too far from their mother? Follow the tiger cubs as they escape danger and learn to hunt in the tall grasses of India.

A Tiger in the Tall Grass is listed as a Level-2A reader by The Good and the Beautiful. We get a lot of homeschool curriculum and books from The Good and the Beautiful. My seven-year-old son is a reluctant reader. He can read, but I'm pretty sure he has ADHD and is easily distracted while reading. He is always easily overwhelmed when he sees either a lot of words on one page or many pages in between his starting and stopping point. So I love that this is a chapter book. Early chapter books for this reading level get the child accustomed to reading in chapters without feeling like he has to complete the entire book. A Tiger in the Tall Grass also has pictures included for every page or opening.

A Tiger in the Tall Grass is an informational book that follows a female tiger who gives birth to cubs and her journey to raise her cubs. The tigers are given names, so in that way it is a fictional story. But it focuses more on the life of a tiger and not just a fictional story. The goal of the book is to present information about tigers in a way that kids will easily absorb and be interested in the story.

One complaint that I had is that the tiger names were probably chosen so as to be authentic to cultural names that might be used in the area where tigers naturally inhabit. This is a guess on my part, but the names were ones that could have been interpreted with more than one pronunciation. I would prefer names with more clear-cut pronunciations when dealing with early readers. I'm not even sure if Reva is Re-va or Rev-a. Tara and Lata are the same.

Now for our personal experience while reading this book: My son was fine with starting the book, but he put it down for a week or so, and when I basically forced him to finish it, he wasn't happy about it. I don't know if that's the book's fault or because my son has some oppositional behaviors and doesn't like being forced to do anything.

A Tiger in the Tall Grass was a good level-2 chapter reader. It's educational while also presenting information about tigers in a story format. My son wasn't happy about finishing this book, but I don't imagine he'll enjoy every book he reads. He mostly doesn't enjoy reading at this stage. From my perspective, A Tiger in the Tall Grass gets 4 Stars. Have you or your child read A Tiger in the Tall Grass? What did you think? Let me know!