There isn't an awful lot of action in the story but there doesn't need to be. Mouse's muddled musings hold us and all the other characters to attention, keeping us delightfully entertained. The story has a fun, nonsensical feel to it and stands out in originality and imagination. You can’t be a tiger, the other animals say, tigers are bigger, they have more Grrrr, they have stripes, and they can climb trees. Mouse is not to be deterred, however: Mouse is a tiger. Mouse says tigers can be small; some have stripes but this one doesn’t (“so there”); and Mouse could definitely climb a tree (but not right now).

It tells the story of Laura, who is given a pet tiger by her parents a month after losing her big brother to suicide. They never explain the tiger and never discuss Laura’s big brother. Not ever. It’s like Laura’s big brother didn’t exist. And having a pet tiger is illegal for a reason. Soon things start to spiral out of control, as things tend to do with feelings of grief… and tigers… But what will Mouse say when an actual tiger appears? Mouse has an excellent answer: Tiger is not a tiger; Tiger is a mouse! Twitchy nose, little hands and feet, cheese for breakfast: yup, definitely a mouse. And Mouse has some interesting descriptions for the other animals too… Not to pander to GOLF Magazine fans here, but I’m reading Michael Bamberger’s Men In Green right now and he has a particularly relevant quote from Arnold Palmer (a man decidedly more qualified than I am on the subject).

Please complete this activity

A month after losing her big brother to suicide, Laura’s parents buy her a pet tiger. They never explain the tiger and never discuss Laura’s big brother. Not ever. It’s like Laura’s big brother didn’t exist. And having a pet tiger is illegal for a reason. Soon things start to spiral out of control... as things tend to do with feelings of grief... and tigers... Let me put the question to you, then: Is anybody in the wrong here? Earl? Nike? Tiger? Us viewers? Tiger’s doubters? Was this ad campaign a good thing, a bad thing, a neutral thing? How should WE feel about it all? A week after losing her big brother to suicide, Laura’s parents buy her a pet tiger. They never explain the tiger and never discuss Laura’s big brother. Not ever. It’s like Laura’s big brother didn’t exist. And having a pet tiger is illegal for a reason. Soon things start to spiral out of control… as things tend to do with feelings of grief… and tigers… Tigers are such persons who dare to love and hate. If a friend does something wrong, they may point it out directly. The daring also makes them rebellious, stubborn and arbitrary in life, and thus it is not easy for them to take others’ advice.

Clever mice are a theme in Ross Collins’ There’s a Mouse in My Housein which a colony of mice take over a bear’s house with chaotic, but ultimately positive, results. In A Mouse Called Julianby Joe Todd-Stanton, Julian the mouse is a clever and solitary mouse that likes his own company, and in Hermelin, The Detective Mouseby Mini Grey, brainy Hermelin saves Baby McMumbo’s life, much to the surprise of the local townsfolk. For terrific tigers... For picture books featuring tigers, look no further than Timothy Knapman and Laura Hughes’ Goodnight Tigerin which a little girl tries her hardest to get a herd of jungle animals to sleep; in Tiger in a Tutuby Fabi Santiago, Max the tiger desperately wants to be a ballerina – but can he do it? In Lizzy Stewart’s There’s A Tiger in the GardenNora comes face t face with a friendly tiger in Grandma’s garden, and, of course, we can’t forget Judith Kerr’s classic The Tiger That Came to Tea, in which a tiger turns up unannounced one day and eats all the food in the house.

What do we make of all of this? I’ve brought in a renowned expert — aka my buddy Taylor — to break it down. Taylor and I grew up playing a lot of golf together and he now works at St. Andrews School in Delaware, where he has taught a sports journalism class and consumed an unhealthy amount of golf-related content. He insisted that I tell you in advance that he’s hardly an expert, but maybe that’s the point. Plus, I get to make the rules! Here we go: Mouse is convinced she/he is a tiger. Everyone else is not so sure but mouse is! She knows exactly who everyone is...even tiger...and she can do all things tigers can... This work has been developed and supported by the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund and Imaginate’s Accelerator programme. Accelerator is supported by the PLACE programme, funded by the Scottish Government (through Creative Scotland), the City of Edinburgh Council and the Edinburgh Festivals. A very confident little mouse declares that he is actually a tiger. The other animals don��t believe him at first, but he manages to demonstrate that he can growl like a tiger, climb trees like a tiger and even hunt for his lunch. When a real tiger comes along, the mouse declares that the tiger is a mouse! After all, the tiger has a twitchy nose, little hands and feet, and probably ate cheese recently. Mouse continues to show that he has all sorts of tiger-like skills. The defeated real tiger asks then what the other animals are and Mouse gives them all sorts of new identities, including a banana and a balloon. When Mouse leaves and gets a glimpse of himself in the water though, he realizes that he isn’t a tiger after all. Maybe he still isn’t a mouse either? The bold little mouse declares "I am a tiger" and manages to convince a raccoon, a fox, a snake and a bird not only that this is true, but that theyare not what they think they are. When a real tiger turns up, can the persuasive and fearless little rodent manage to persuade the tiger that heis the mouse?