July Picture Book Club REPLAY

your chance to catch up!

Hello! It was a really fun Picture Book Club, discussing The Tiger Who Came to Tea. I discovered loads of new insights and feel like I have a deeper understanding of it now.

Thanks so much to all of you who came - and here is the replay for those of you who couldn’t make the live session.

Here’s some things to think about before you watch the replay:

Michael Rosen has speculated that the story could be understood through the lens of Kerr’s past as a refugee from Nazi Germany, although Kerr has always said it was just a simple bedtime story she made up for her daughter. I often find myself referring to it when I feel overwhelmed by a situation or person, and it has always felt like a wonderful metaphor for many situations in life, so I am excited to analyse it with some of you! We had a wonderful time delving deep into Where The Wild Things Are last month, so I’m excited to see what we discover about this book!

Here are some questions you could think about ahead of time:

• How does Kerr set up the story?

• Look at the pace of the story, how does Kerr tell the beginning/middle/end

• What are the themes of the book?

• Who do you think is the intended audience?  Why?

• How does Kerr use words and pictures together?

• Do the images and text match?

• How effective is the use of page turns in the book?

• Look at the balance of page/double page spreads. How does Kerr use this to enhance the storytelling?

• How does the Kerr show the passing of time?

• How does Kerr use metaphors and symbolism? How effective are they?

• How do you think colour is used in the book?

• Take a look at the composition. How does Kerr use this to enhance the story?

• How "realistic" are the illustrations?

• What does Sophie want at the beginning? Does she get what she wants? 

• What do the other characters want? How is this shown with words and pictures?

• How does Kerr show how Sophie and the tiger are feeling?

• What is the perspective of the book? Are the images close up/far away? Do we look through other creature's/character's eyes?

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