Tigress - Hardcover

Grade 1-4-- A tigress and her cubs leave their forest sanctuary to hunt. Although the herdsmen are understandably upset about the loss of a bullock and a camel, the ranger manages to dissuade them from poisoning the meat before the animals return to feed. Instead, they use firecrackers to frighten the predators back to the preserve. Cowcher's beasts are magnificent, graceful, and powerful. She is equally adept at portraying the scrubby trees and bushes of the landscape in which the herdsmen tend their flocks. The author effectively presents the dilemma that marks many efforts at wildlife conservation: how to preserve a species of animal whose habitat and natural activities bring it in conflict with people's expansion into new territories. She is honest in not offering an easy solution. While the situation has been resolved for the moment, there is no guarantee that the tigers and herdsmen will live in harmony. Visually and thematically, the book offers readers much to ponder as ecological issues receive increasing attention. --Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MN
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Cowcher continues to present environmental concerns (Rain Forest, 1989, etc.)--here, with a tigress that comes out of a forest sanctuary to kill a bullock, and later a camel. In brilliant, beautifully composed paintings, the author depicts the other animals' fear as the monkeys call a warning; the poignant distress of a herdsman who depended on the bullock for his own livelihood; and the splendidly beautiful tiger and her full-grown cubs. As in Cowcher's other fine books, only the conclusion is a little weak: the ranger persuades the people to help frighten the tigress back into the sanctuary (using firecrackers) rather than poison her, but there's no hint of whether the sanctuary is adequate to her needs. Still, a stunningly beautiful book that addresses an important issue with compassion--and with more balance and subtlety than its predecessors. (Picture book. 4+) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.