Tiger Town. Eric Walters. Toronto, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2006/2013. 230 pp., pbk. & html, $7.99 (pbk.). ISBN 978-1-4431-2414-0 (pbk.), ISBN 978-1-4431-3301-2 (html). Grades 3-6 / Ages 8-11. Review by Tanya Boudreau. *** /4

excerpt:

The camera zoomed in on Nick and Peanuts. Nick appeared to be having a wonderful time up there.

“But as you can see, this was not successful,” the newscaster continued. “Finally, with the assistance of the police department, the large and dangerous animals were driven back and secured in their pens.”

The footage showed me holding open the fence, and the three buffalo running back in to join the deer.

“The only casualty of the episode was one police car,” she said, and the camera focused on the cruiser sitting in the ditch. “It’s believed that the officer driving the car when it crashed was the acting chief of police.”

“I hope the police services board doesn’t hear this and hold it against him,” Mom said.

Mr. McCurdy’s farm is expanding! Joining Calvin the chimp, Polly the Macaw, Brent the python, Laura the cheetah, and Buddha the tiger are an elephant, buffalo, deer, and lions. They are rescue animals, and 11-year-old Nick and his 14-year-old sister Sarah love spending time with the, even when it involves danger and hard work. In this third book in the series, the siblings are given more responsibilities on the farm. They look after the house when the owners are away, and when Nick and Sarah are not in school, they feed, water and clean up after the animals. They have their fun (petting a cheetah, visiting the tigers), but when they encounter problems, they are able to solve them in clever ways. When a herd of buffalo escape, they use an elephant and a clothesline full of clothes to corral the animals back in the pen. When a bratty child has a close encounter with a set of claws, the rescue is quick, and the press is handled with a calm demeanor. Although they argue a lot, the brother and sister help each other too. They clean up after a messy chimp, and Nick risks his life to rescue his sister’s baby deer. McCurdy’s Russian co-worker, Vladimir, becomes a father-figure to the siblings. He hugs them, spends time with them, and tells them a secret about his past. As children read this story, they will learn facts about wild animals and the costs involved in rescuing them. Despite growing debts, teamwork is the reason this farm is saved. Brother and sister and friends work with community members to build new pens and widen existing living areas. Everyone (even a former grumpy mayor) pitches in to build Tiger Town, a money-making park where Mr. McCurdy’s exotic animals can live a safe, and healthy life.

Recommended.

Tanya Boudreau is a librarian at the Cold Lake Public Library in Cold Lake, AB.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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