Adam sets off on his deliveries for his family’s shop. He knows to keep his head down, and not to meet anyone’s gaze. Especially the guards at his ghetto’s gates, or any lords or ladies that may be travelling the same streets.

The unfairness of it burns in him. He was born in London just like the people who scorn and believe he is beneath them. These people include the Commoners, but because they are white, they are instantly deemed more British.

When he finds himself backed down an alley and about to be robbed, he sprints into a communal rubbish dump. Something fantastical springs to his defense and his life changes forever. He can’t believe the creature in front of him. A giant Tyger much taller than a man stands in front of him. But it needs his help.

Adam does all he can and returns home to his family. They are waiting full of worry when he arrives. But sworn to secrecy by the Tyger, he says nothing. Someone else is looking for it though. He is one of the most important and powerful men in London. He claims the Tyger escaped his menagerie and he is offering a reward for information leading to its capture.

Adam’s difficult, poverty-filled and fearful life has just got a whole lot more complicated. But as he tries to help his new striped friend, his life begins to be enriched in ways he never thought possible. His eyes are opened to whole new worlds and possibilities and with a local girl along to help, Adam will do anything to protect the Tyger.

The whole city of London is soon at stake as the Tyger finally finds what it needs.

Tyger is the first book I have read of SF Said, although I definitely recognise all of his eye-catching covers. Tyger’s cover is my favorite though, drawing me inside his British Children’s Book of the Year, Guardian Best Books of the Year, and Times Best Books of the Year, novel.

Always fascinated by the poem by William Blake – Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright, and in particular the spelling of Tyger – S F Said began to work on his Tyger, 9 years ago. I knew it would be something special – something different, by the praise heaped upon it with multiple awards and the first few pages of the book full of quotes from famous publications and children’s authors.

I did what they prescribed and savoured the story, keen but not rushing to find what all the glowing reviews were saying. They were right with their advice.

Tyger is set in London where its history never saw the abolition of slavery. Anyone who doesn’t look “British” (even if they were born there) are deemed foreigners and must live in a ghetto where the gates in or out are guarded, and identity papers thoroughly checked. No identity papers? This is so serious, a hanging sentence may be served. There is a scene such as this where the characters are shocked and shaken in seeing it, but this scene serves the narrative of how awful this society has become. The Tyger serves as the light and hope for the future against this terrible ‘normal’ and helps to set the stakes.

So, this novel isn’t a fairytale. It isn’t even an animal lover’s read, because the Tyger is injured for pretty much all of the novel. But if you have a young reader in mind who reads above their age, can understand the comparisons between the world of the novel and our own world today, Tyger will encourage them to think about it in a different way. Just as the fantastical animal himself changed the lives of two children who will do anything to save him.

Thought provoking, with Dave McKean’s distinctive illustrations throughout, Tyger is Remarkable. 

Author – S F Said

Illustrator – Dave McKean

Age – 11+

Read S F Said’s interview with Rachael King’s (The Sapling NZ) here

(2023, David Fickling Books, Affirm Publishing London, Alternate Reality, Parallel Worlds, Perception, Imagination, Creativity, Revelation, Slavery, Winner of British Children’s Book Award 2023, William Blake’s Poem, Tyger Tyger Burning Bright, Slavery, Slaves, Good vs Evil, Immortals, Agents of Death, Giant Tiger, Alternate history, Action, Friendship, Courage, Racism, Prejudice, Ghetto, Shop keepers, Debt, Poverty, Crime, Fantasy, Hope, Love, Family)