It’s late summer on Mountain Pond as a boy and his family take their annual camping trip before the start of school. With the comfort and familiarity of kindergarten behind him, the boy is apprehensive about starting first grade. As they set up their campsite, the family is startled to see a tiger—thin, small, and stern. He requests an extra tent and stays with the family all weekend. The boy curls up with him in the tent, follows him along a trail, and rides alone in a canoe with him to look at the stars. The tiger vanishes just before vacation ends. Back home, the boy is doing things now that his mother used to do for him, like making his bed and folding his clothes. The boy, who appears to be biracial (Asian/white), draws the tiger from memory the night before school starts as a gift for his new teacher. Stunning illustrations accompany this imaginative story, a subtle metaphor for a time of growth and transition that invites discussion and provokes thought. (Ages 4–8)

Six Starred Reviews!

Shelf Awareness Best Children's Book of 2019

A 2019 New York Public Library Best Book for Kids

Imagination meets reality in this poetic and tender ode to childhood, illustrated by Caldecott Honor winner, John Rocco.

Every year, a boy and his family go camping at Mountain Pond.

Usually, they see things like an eagle fishing for his dinner, a salamander with red spots on its back, and chipmunks that come to steal food while the family sits by the campfire.

But this year is different. This year, the boy is going into first grade, and his mother is encouraging him to do things on his own, just like his older brother. And the most different thing of all . . . this year, a tiger comes to the woods.

With lyrical prose and dazzling art, Pulitzer Prize finalist Susan Choi and Caldecott-honor winning artist John Rocco have created a moving and joyful ode to growing up.