Tiger is a sweet, curious, cuddly, 12-pound Pekinese/Poodle. Owner Dee Clardy has created an interactive reading workbook for young children starring her delightful pooch. With color photographs and a series of simple “get to know you” questions, children are prompted to memorize important information and think creatively about their world.
Organized in a call-and-response dialogue with Tiger the dog, Tiger Questions U? invites children to answer questions such as: Where do you live? What hospital were you born in? What’s your mother’s name? How old are you? What is your favorite food? Do you go to the park? Along the way, we learn more and more about the darling Tiger: our favorite Pekinese mix has a doggy pool, loves the snow, gets holiday pictures taken with Santa Claus, and is clearly living a rich and happy life. The dog also has an imbedded chip to ensure it will get home in a jiffy if ever lost. The workbook elements of the text include asking children to identify colors and objects. These answers are included at the back of the book.
Tiger Questions U? is a lovely idea for a workbook. That said, it would have been nice to see more traditional workbook material to ensure that the educational literacy content of the project was intensified, such as simple letter identification or placing objects in alphabetical order. Also, although the correct spelling of the word “you” is included at the back of the book, the abbreviation “u” is used throughout the text. In a reading workbook, the word should surely be spelled correctly. Finally, it is never confirmed if Tiger is a boy or a girl. While it doesn’t really matter, children will want to know.
This is a sweet celebration of a charming dog, but given its limitations, those hoping for a real reading workbook will need to look elsewhere.
Also available in hardcover.
