How to talk to Tigers? Why are Special Needs Jungle posting about Talking to Tigers? It really doesn't sound like our usual post, does it?
How to Talk to Tigers
is written by Jacob Tilley. Jacob spent seven years living in the forests of India learning how to roar and growl (or so his bio says). He then decided to write a book about this and he invited Ruby Thompson to illustrate it. Ruby is a young girl who has autism
"How to talk to Tigers" is one of those books that as you read it, you know everyone will interpret differently.
Initially, for me, I was purely looking at the images and thinking "wow". It made me remember that we should never limit our expectations. The illustrations are colourful and fun.
Then my eldest, K, picked up the book and started to read it out loud. He was in fits of laughter.
The book describes how to talk to "tigers" in different moods, e.g. how to talk to a poorly tiger, how to talk to an angry tiger, a naughty tiger.... you get the idea. It's written in rhyme scheme (i.e. the first line rhymes with the second, the third line rhymes with the fourth, etc) and my kids love this and as a mum, I love reading this out loud - so easy and fun.
I think for K, rhyme scheme just makes sense. There are no shocks, no surprises, lines will rhyme and this is perfectly logical to him.
As K continued to read, between giggles, my youngest son, J, shouted out "this should be called how to talk to K". We all laughed but then I read it again later and I realised that J had a point. One of the lines talking about an "excited tiger" was "they fly through windows, swing from door frames, knock over chairs" and I wondered if there was hidden CCTV in my home that Jacob had access to So many of the chapters had lines I could relate to, especially the "Happy Tiger".
I loved this book and it has become one of those that my children often ask for. We have learned it verbatim by now and so I only have to read half the line and the kids finish it. We've also had some role playing and even K got involved. He pretended to be an angry tiger which as any mum of a child who has ASD will appreciate, was a moment of pure joy for me.
What books do your children enjoy?
- Accountability: the number one change you would like - March 7, 2016
- Life Skills – are children with VI missing out? - March 2, 2016
- Tests:Do you and your child find them testing? - February 3, 2016
We have a lovely book called How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham, and The Jesus Storybook Bible, which is funny and an interesting twist on ‘traditional’ dry bible stories (if that’s your kind of thing).