This is a book that can broaden your perspective of not only tigers, but also human proclivities and the paradoxes of evolving Russian life. In a Balkan country mending from years of conflict, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives on a mission of mercy at an orphanage by the sea. By the time she and her lifelong friend Zóra begin to inoculate the children there, she feels age-old superstitions and secrets gathering everywhere around her. Secrets her outwardly cheerful hosts have chosen not to tell her. Secrets involving the stra Key quote: "Vaillant’s tiger tale is nuanced." Note that the man-killing tiger was injured, and could no longer hunt its usual prey -- as is common in historic man-eaters. And tigers need a LOT of meat to survive a Siberian winter. You do not want to be charged by a hungry, 500 pound tiger! It's quite a story, and I recommend it with a few reservations. 3.7 stars, rounded up.

The only time we see similar effects in other animals is when they are domesticated or consistently subjected to stressful conditions in controlled laboratory environments. In these cases they develop acute and chronic traumatic reactions. We are inextricably drawn into situations that replicate the original trauma in both obvious and unobvious ways. The prostitute or “stripper” with a history of childhood sexual abuse is a common example. Regarding Russian history in understanding human impact, you will see the conflicts and contradictions of heavy handed human ecosystem destruction hand in hand with conservation measures. A battle in itself with our blind weedy species weighing ever more on one end of the teeter-totter.

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One of Britain’s most beloved picture books, The Tiger Who Came to Tea has spent more than a decade thrilling families with its magical stage adaptation. Now returning to the Theatre Royal Haymarket this Olivier Award Nominated smash hit show is the perfect way to spend a day with the family over the Summer holidays. Medusa Complex”—the drama called trauma. As in the Greek myth of Medusa, the human confusion that may ensue when we stare death in the face can turn us to stone. We may literally freeze in fear, which will result in the creation of traumatic symptoms.

Judith knows about dangerous people who come to your house and take people away. She was told as a young child that her father could be grabbed at any moment by either the Gestapo or the SS - he was in great danger. So I don’t know whether Judith did it consciously or not - I wouldn’t want to go there - but the point is he’s a jokey tiger, but he is a tiger”. The community aspect reminded of stories of the Bataan Death March and the forced use of prisoners to build roads and facilities in WWII. Trauma in the extreme example, the weak were bayoneted by the road, no health care was provided, and there was very little food. A common trait of the survivors: a caring somebody to watch over them and to whom they cared when time arose. A human connection to life where everything else was inhuman in nature. Taking care of others can help form trust and mutual care. (Unless the other is a narcissist, or is the reason for the trauma, etc...) The Great Patriotic War had scarcely concluded before the USSR began rebuilding and retooling for the Cold War. While Soviet engineers and scientists perfected the now ubiquitous AK-47 and tested the country’s first nuclear weapons, the general population reeled from the catastrophic synergy generated by six years of war and the seemingly endless nightmare of Stalin’s psychotic reign. During the two decades prior to Markov’s birth, the Soviet Union lost approximately 35 million citizens—more than one fifth of its population—to manufactured famines, political repression, genocide, and war. Millions more were imprisoned, exiled, or forced to relocate, en masse, across vast distances. With the possible exception of China under Mao Zedong, it is hard to imagine how the fabric of a country could have been more thoroughly shredded from within and without.” It doesn’t have to be sitting there with an encyclopaedia. Even small, fun books help develop that love of books in children'The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr is for me, a forgotten childhood favorite. The glee of sitting down with my grandfather as he read it to me had slipped my memory until I had to catalog a copy. I enjoyed the supplementary information - for me it was all relevant enough, and interesting enough. It contained loads of interesting information specific to tigers, but was a also a little broader, bringing in similarities and differences between tigers and other animals - wolves, the Amur leopard, brown bears. There was a lot of specialist research on Amur tigers explained. There was also a lot about the people involved - very detailed biographies of, in some cases, their entire lives. This included the victims of the tiger, their families, other relevant people living in the same towns and the tiger hunting team members. This all added to the greater context, but was perhaps the one aspect that was taken a but far for me. Having said all that, I know other readers found there was too little of the story and too much of the context. Tigers are absolutely fascinating. Despite them doing very little when I spot them at zoos, I could still spend hours marvelling at their beauty and poise... Lizzy Stewart’s There’s a Tiger in the Garden is another spectacular book about a little girl who unexpectedly meets a tiger... Her grandma warns her that there is a tiger in her garden but Nora doesn’t believe her so she sets off to find out for herself!