When you Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

I used to be able to talk to her. I used to tell her everything. If this had happened a few years ago, 

I would have said, I JUST SAW A TIGER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. 

I would’ve shouted it right into her ear because I couldn’t hold it in.

Mum and her two daughters - Lilly and Sam - are moving back to live with their grandmother or halmoni (grandmother in Korean). Very gradually we are given some brief details that dad has died in a car accident. This move will be a new start for the family but more importantly it is clear Halmoni is unwell. 

Halmoni buys rice and pine nuts and herbs to cast magic, she feeds spirits, she believes in all the things you cannot see. She lives in a house at the top of a hill, a house covered in vines, with windows that watch like unblinking eyes. She is a witch, looming over the town, like something out of a fairy tale. She’s not normal. I’m not normal.

On their journey Lilly sees some thing very frightening. She knows her grandmother has told the girls stories about tigers. And now she has seen one.

I gaze out the windshield. The landscape that slips by is peaceful. Gray stone houses, green grass, gray restaurants, green forest. The colors of Sunbeam blur together: gray, green, gray, green—and then orange, black. I sit up, trying to make sense of the new colors. There’s a creature lying on the road ahead. It’s a giant cat, with its head resting on its paws. No. Not just a giant cat. A tiger.

When they arrive at the house Lilly encounters the tiger again. She makes a bargain with Lilly. If Lilly returns the stars that were trapped in jars by Halmoni then the tiger will restore Halmoni to good health. Halmoni has told Lilly the story of the Tiger and the stars. 

“I am the littlest girl in the littlest village, and I am sneaky. I hide outside the caves and wait until the tigers fall asleep, until their snores echo through the land. And then I get to work, grabbing the stars—the bad stories—in my fists, stuffing them into jars.”

“I seal jars up. Then I tiptoe away from cave, so soft, hush-hush. Before I leave, I think, I be extra safe. I make sure they don’t follow. So I take rocks from the forest, one by one, and stack them at the mouth of the cave, until they make a wall. Big, heavy wall. Until the tigers trapped inside.”

“Nothing last forever, Lily. Tigers break free. The tigers very angry. Now they coming for me. ... “They hunting me now. They don’t stop hunting.”

Lilly finds the important jars but then she has to work out how to trap the tiger in the basement. The family now live across the road from the library, so Lilly decides to go there to find out how to trap a tiger. In the library she meets a boy named Ricky. He will prove to be a new friend and a boy who can help Lilly navigate this complex time, but will she be able to trap the tiger in time? There are three jars and three stories the Tiger could tell Lilly. Sam calls her sister a QAG - quiet Asian girl - but Lilly has to find a way to break away from this label or stereotype because she is sure she is the only one who will be about to save her halmoni. And of course time is running out.

Blurb from the author page: Would you make a deal with a tiger? When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni’s Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history.   Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now, the tigers want it back. And when one of those tigers approaches Lily with a deal—return what Halmoni stole in exchange for Halmoni's health—Lily is tempted to accept. But deals with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of her sister and her new friend Ricky, Lily must find her voice… and the courage to face a tiger.

Opening sentences:

I can turn invisible. It’s a superpower, or at least a secret power. But it’s not like in the movies, and I’m not a superhero, so don’t start thinking that. Heroes are the stars who save the day. I just—disappear. See, I didn’t know, at first, that I had this magic. I just knew that teachers forgot my name, and kids didn’t ask me to play, and one time, at the end of fourth grade, a boy in my class frowned at me and said, Where did you come from? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before. I used to hate being invisible. But now I understand: it’s because I’m magic.

Keller infuses this tale, which explores both the end of life and coming-of-age, with a sensitive examination of immigration issues and the complexity of home. It is at one and the same time completely American and thoroughly informed by Korean culture. Longing—for connection, for family, for a voice—roars to life with just a touch of magic. Kirkus Star review

There is one sentence that made me gasp in this story. Over five days eleven years ago this week I sat with my mother as she was dying. Someone told me the last sense to go is hearing and so I said the same words that Lilly said to her halmoni reassuring my little mum that I too would be okay:

“It’s okay,” I whisper, leaning so close to Halmoni that my lips brush her ear. I close my eyes and breathe. Sometimes, the bravest thing is to stop running. “It’s okay if you go. We will be all right.”

When you trap a tiger won the Newbery Medal. You can see other books by Tae Keller here. If you enjoy books with folk tales woven into the narrative you might also look for these:

Where the mountain meets the moon

Zadie Ma and the Dog who Chased the Moon

A Glasshouse of Stars

Allan Ahlberg 1938-2025

Image Source: The Daily Telegraph 6th Sept 2013

This morning I read the sad news that we had lost one of our most amazing and talented literary giants of the children's book world - Allan Ahlberg. I have read and loved so many of his books and I had heaps of them in all of my former school libraries. He wrote over 150 books and they cover such a range from books to gift a new baby, books for todders, books for children learning to read, picture books for all ages, poetry, fiction books and adult titles too. Do you remember his joke book - The Ha Ha Bonk Book?  I can only give you a tiny glimpse here into his enormous contribution to the field of children's literature and also to the joy and great delight his books give to children. 

I think I can say many other children's book authors and illustrators have 'stood on the shoulders' of Allan and his late wife Janet - think of books like Peepo and The Jolly Postman. 

Quote from Allan Ahlberg Daily Telegraph 2013: Peepo! Peepo! was set in wartime, which made the publisher very nervous. She worried that little children wouldn’t make sense of things such as barrage balloons that were in the illustrations but not in the story. But I think it’s a mistake to think that a book for little children has to be like a glass of water so that every single element in it is accessible and clear and understood by a three-year-old. If they don’t understand something, they will ask.

Shirley Hughes (speaking to Puffin Books) said this about Allan Ahlberg: Allan and Janet Ahlberg’s picture book partnership burst upon the children’s book world like an exhilarating, life-enhancing breath of fresh air. Allan’s writing style is a combination of fine, highly skilled wordplay and a relaxed, brilliantly accessible storyline, full of his unique sense of humour. He and Janet played off one another with an unforgettable interplay of talent, essentially English yet worldwide in its appeal. It was a duo that, one can only say, was made in heaven.

Illustration from Each Peach Pear Plum

A few personal memories:

In the early 1980s Allan Ahlberg visited Australia! Are you amazed? My memories of this are only tiny fragments - I remember the location was an old library building possibly in North Sydney. The audience was quite small, and I remember he had dark hair. I am wondering if his publisher (possibly Walker Books) bought him to Australia - OH those were the days when international authors and illustrators of children's books came here.

Do you know the books The Vanishment of Thomas Tull and Jeremiah in the Dark woods - this might be because I read them to you - I read both of these books to hundreds of children in four different school libraries. I can still recite parts of both of them by heart.

I used to collect children's games that linked with books. One card game I had was based on Cops and Robbers. You can read more about this book here. 

Sophie Henn said: Cops and Robbers was one of my absolute favourites when I was little and I am delighted to say I still love it now. I think it ignited my love of both crime dramas and cross-section illustrations! As this hilarious caper joyously bounces along, the Robbers are threatening Christmas, which is about as bad as it gets for a four-year-old, and Ahlberg doesn’t shy away from their obvious love of villainy! I think we tend to stay away from the darker side of life with picture books these days, but as Roald Dahl said, your villains can do the most awful things as long as there is justice in the end. And our Robbers certainly get their comeuppance, thanks to heroic PC Pugh, of the Coppers, who puts everything right in time for Christmas and without coming across as pious or goody-goody. Genius! Janet Ahlberg’s detailed cross-sections and images packed with visual gags build on the exhilarating pace and rhythm of the story. And I DO love a tale with an open ending. What happened to Grandma Swagg? We may never know… Ho! Ho!

In my former library I had a set of fifteen copies of The Jolly Postman - inevitably they would be returned with all the letters jumbled and so my library monitors would have a 'fun' task of sorting all the letters back into their little envelopes so each book was once again complete.

I had a teacher in my previous school who always loved (and used) the poem Scissors (read here by Allan Ahlberg) from the book Please Mrs Butler. And yes this teacher was very, very pedantic about the scissors in his classroom along with pencils, clipboards, rulers, and so many more things. It was the perfect poem. You can hear Allan reading more poems here. Other poetry books by Allan Ahlberg are Everybody Was a Baby Once: and Other Poems; Collected Poems illustrated by Charlotte Voake; and Heard It in the Playground. I always wanted to see a copy of Mrs. Butler Songbook.

I often quote lines in my mind from Each Peach Pear Plum - it is a rhyme that has just stuck in my brain. "Each peach pear plum I spy Tom Thumb ... Cinderella on the stairs I spy the three bears." And I have gifted this book and Peepo to nearly every new baby born into the families of my friends. I even have a couple of copies in my present book stash ready for the next new arrival. 

One of my all-time favourite read aloud books is Jeremiah in the Dark woods because you just have to read it with voices. I especially enjoy 'performing' the voice of the crocodile. I have put a link to my two blog posts about this book below. AND I used to read this and then give each of the children a small jam tart to eat - I guess you couldn't do that now.

Every Kindergarten child in my school library listened to (and joined in) with the book Bye Bye Baby - a sad story with a happy ending. 

Among the most treasured books in my school libraries were the tiny Red Nose Readers books - funny, terrific illustrations and just perfect for little children learning to read. These were real books not readers!

Andre Amstutz illustrated the Happy Families books and also the series Fast Fox, Slow Dog - Chicken Chips and Peas; Slow Dog Falling; and The Hen House. These were also perfect for very young children just learning to read. He also illustrated The Funny Bones books:

Here is a comment from Facebook: Thank you, Mr Ahlberg for all the magic, all the story dreaming. 

In 1975, the Ahlbergs published their first book together, Here are the Brick Street Boys. That was swiftly followed by The Old Joke Book, Burglar Bill and Each Peach Pear Plum, for which Janet was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustrators in 1978. The Jolly Postman, which was published in 1991, won the Kurt Maschler Award. The second in the series, The Jolly Christmas Postman (1991), won a second Kate Greenaway Medal. Janet Ahlberg died in 1994. I found a video of Allan Ahlberg talking about his book The Goldilock which are variations on the story illustrated with his daughter Jessica. Working with his daughter he also wrote The Boy, the Wolf, the Sheep and the Lettuce and Half a Pig. 

Here is the Kirkus Star review

Quote from the 2013 Daily Telegraph by Allan Ahlberg: I have a small talent and I get paid an arm and a leg for it. More than half of the books that I have written are out of print or barely earned their advance – some of the ones I really liked – and a few of them have stayed in print for 30 or 40 years and have paid for everything. It’s all luck, really. If I had stayed in my little terraced house in Leicestershire, I could have lived off Each Peach Pear Plum for the rest of my life.

Here are my blog posts which explore books by Allan Ahlberg:

• Jeremiah in the Dark Woods by Allan Ahlberg illustrated by Janet Ahlberg (post 2023)
• Jeremiah in the dark woods by Janet and Allan Ahlberg (original post)
• The vanishment of Thomas Tull by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• Bye Bye Baby by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• The Improbable Cat by Allan Ahlberg illustrated by Peter Bailey
• The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• The Clothes Horse and other Stories by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
• The man who wore all his clothes by Alan Ahlberg illustrated by Katharine McEwen
• Baby on Board by Allan Ahlberg illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark

Source of book lists Fantastic Fiction:

Novels

•    Woof! (1974)
•    The Vanishment of Thomas Tull (1977)
•    Son of a Gun (1979) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    The Ha Ha Bonk Book (1982)
•    Fast Frog and Friends (1984)
•    The Giant Baby (1994)
•    The Night Train (1996)
•    My Brother's Ghost (2000)
•    The Improbable Cat (2002)
•    The Cat Who Got Carried Away (2003)
•    The Boy, the Wolf, the Sheep and the Lettuce (2004)
•    The Boyhood of Burglar Bill (2007)

Collections

•    Please Mrs. Butler (poems) (1983)
•    The Clothes Horse (1987) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    The Mighty Slide (poems) (1988)
•    Ten in a Bed (1989)
•    Heard It in the Playground (poems) (1989)
•    The Better Brown Stories (1995)
•    The Mysteries of Zigomar (poems) (1997)
•    The Puffin Book of Five-minute Stories (1998) (with others)
•    Friendly Matches (poems) (2001)
•    Collected Poems (poems) (2008)
•    Funnybones (2010)
•    Everybody Was a Baby Once (poems) (2010)

Picture Books 

•    The Pet Shop (1969)
•    Here Are the Brick Street Boys (1975)
•    A Place to Play (1975)
•    Sam the Referee (1975)
•    Make a Face (1976)
•    Fred's Dream (1976) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Big Bad Pig (1976)
•    Burglar Bill (1977) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Jeremiah in the Dark Woods (1977) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Cops and Robbers (1978) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    The Little Worm Book (1979) I mention this book here.
•    The One and Only Two Heads (1979)
•    Two Wheels Two Heads (1979)
•    Treasure Hunt (1980)
•    A Pair Of Sinners (1980)
•    Dinosaur Dreams (1980)
•    The Great Marathon Football Match (1981)
•    123 First Counting Book (1981)
•    Peepo! (1981) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    The Baby's Catalogue (1982)
•    King Kangaroo (1983)
•    Mr. Wolf (1983)
•    Tell-Tale Tiger (1983)
•    Each Peach Pear Plum (1984) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Yum Yum (1984)
•    Happy Worm (1985)
•    Help! (1985)
•    The Cinderella Show (1986) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Push the Dog (1986)
•    Shirley's Shops (1986)
•    Blow Me Down! (1986)
•    One, Two, Flea! (1986)
•    Tell Us a Story (1986)
•    Jolly Postman (1986)
•    Bear's Birthday (1987)
•    Jumping (1987)
•    The Old Joke Book (1987)
•    The Shopping Expedition (1987)
•    So Can I (1987)
•    Starting School (1988) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    The Worm Book (1989) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Bye Bye Baby (1989) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Fee Fi Fo Fum (1990)
•    The Black Cat (1990)
•    Mystery Tour (1990)
•    The Jolly Christmas Postman (1991) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Skeleton Crew (1992)
•    The Bear Nobody Wanted (1992) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Bumps in the Night (1993)
•    Give the Dog a Bone (1993)
•    It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (1993) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Who Stole the Pie? (1995)
•    The Jolly Pocket Postman (1995) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Peek-a-boo (1997) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Baby Sleeps (1998) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Doll and Teddy (1998) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    See the Rabbit (1998) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Monkey Do! (1998)
•    Mockingbird (1998)
•    Shine a Light (1998) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Blue Buggy (1999) (with Janet Ahlberg)
•    Chicken, Chips and Peas (1999)
•    The Hen House (1999)
•    Slow Dog Falling (1999)
•    Fast Fox Goes Crazy (1999)
•    The Bravest Ever Bear (1999)
•    Storytime Giants (2000)
•    The Snail House (2000)
•    Grandma Fox (2000)
•    The Mother Hen Mysteries (2001)
•    The Man Who Wore All His Clothes (2001)
•    The Adventures of Bert (2001) (with Raymond Briggs)
•    Chickens in the Snow (2001)
•    The Woman Who Won Things (2002)
•    Miaow! (2002)
•    A Bit More Bert (2002) (with Raymond Briggs)
•    The Little Cat Baby (2003)
•    Half a Pig (2004)
•    The Children Who Smelled a Rat (2005)
•    The Runaway Dinner (2006)
•    Previously (2007)
•    The Pencil (2008)
•    The Baby in the Hat (2008)
•    Baby Sleeps Buggy Book (2010) 
•    Goldilocks (2012)
•    Hooray for Bread! (2013)
•    Kicking a Ball (2014)
•    Alison Hubble (2016)
•    The Ghost Train (2017)
•    My Worst Book Ever (2018)
•    Baby on Board (2018)
•    Under the Table (2023)

His first book for adults was The Bucket, about his childhood in a Black Country town in the 1940s. A few years ago my friend showed me her precious copy of Janet's Last Book [9780140268720] written as a tribute to his wife. 

In 2024 his latest book Under the Table was published.

Bookseller blurb: What do you do when you're having an ordinary day, only to discover there's a big gray elephant (named Nathaniel) under the table? Why, you get him to help you wash the car And the kangaroo (named Abigail) that appears under that same table can help bring in groceries. But when there are penguins in the fridge, the forks and knives are running around, and the salt and ketchup are acting up, there is only one thing to do: pack everyone in the camper and go on vacation With a wink and a nod, Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman reunite for another wry, comical, zany adventure starring the family introduced in The Runaway Dinner and The Pencil.

There were other people aside from Janet, who illustrated books by Allan Ahlberg. Bruce Ingram did these books above and he talks about another book they did together called My Worst Book ever. You can see inside this book here. 

Have you discovered Pernille Ripp?

“We hold the future of the world in our hands when we teach children and our teaching should reflect that weight. That is why I teach, so that every child will have the opportunity to live fully realized, to be safe, and to be valued. It starts with us, every day, and how we can give back power to the children in our care and co-create change to live up to the expectations kids have of us.”

The Author Village

Pernille Ripp is an educator now living in Denmark. Here is the link to her blog - it is well worth dipping into her wisdom about reading and access to books and time and all the things I 'bang on about' here. You can read her bio here. Her latest post is: It’s Not That They Can’t Read… – looking at imposter syndrome and reading identity.

If you know someone who is new to teaching make sure they read this post: 10 Myths for New Teachers.

This is a very recent podcast interview with Pernille Ripp and The Human Restoration Project podcast.

I highly recommend her post entitled: A Few Ideas for Building a Whole School Reading Culture.

Here are a few points that resonated with me:

Readers as Role Models and Community Builders

• Student reading ambassadors: Choose students who can share book recommendations, host quick booktalks, or lead reading events across grade levels. Their excitement will hopefully spread.
• Staff reading showcases: Create a “We’re Reading…” wall where teachers and staff post photos with their current reads, along with a short note about what they love about them. Let students see that reading isn’t just for kids – it’s for everyone. Or do it individually, I have shared my “Mrs. Ripp is currently reading and loving…” wall many times.
• Cross-grade reading buddies: Pair older students with younger ones. Let them read aloud, share favorites, and have conversations about books. It’s about connection and mentorship, not just fluency.

Reflection and Building Reading Identity

• “Why I Abandoned This Book”: Normalize that not all books work for everyone. Students can reflect on a book they didn’t finish and why and create a bulletin board. It’s a great way to build critical thinking and give permission to stop reading what doesn’t click.
• Reading Playlist Pairings: Invite students to create a short playlist that pairs with the vibe of a book they’re reading. Share the playlists with classmates – a creative, multimedia way to share bookish identity.
• “Who am I as a reader?” activities: Structured exercises where students think about their favorite genres, their reading goals, their best reading memories. This builds ownership and identity.
• Meaningful reading goals: Move beyond page or book counts. Encourage goals like, “I want to find a book that makes me think,” or, “I want to reread an old favorite and see if it still feels the same.”

And this one: Why Picture Books – 5 Reasons Why They Belong in Every Classroom

• Picture books give us a common language.
• Picture books can teach us complex matters in a simple way.
• Picture books can make us feel successful when we have lost our way.
• Picture books relieve stress.
• Picture books can make us believe that we can read well.

Pernille is also involved with the Global Read Aloud - check it out and here are the 2025 books:

Stories bring hope. Even as we turn another page filled with despair, our heroes emerge victorious, bruised and battered, but forged by fire. And so this year’s choices are once again books meant to spark hope. To create change. To push questions and inspiration. Perhaps even to spark anger as we search for a path forward. But I also hope they bring you joy, connection, and a renewed sense of togetherness because in a world where powerful people seem to be hellbent on tearing us all apart, books can create a bridge, if even for a moment. So if you like the choices for this year, join me as we kick off the Global Read Aloud on October 6th, 2025.