This month, members of the Blue Bunny Book Club reviewed The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo.

Review by Julie K.

The Tiger Rising is an adventurous and exciting book. In this book there is a boy named Rob Horton. Rob had moved to Florida with his dad when his mom had died of cancer. Rob is bullied in school by two boys, Norton and Billy. Rob meets a girl named Sistine Bailey and they become good friends after some teasing to Rob. Rob had seen a tiger in the woods and told Sistine about it. Sistine wants very badly to let the tiger go. One day, Rob’s dad’s boss Beauchamp, gives Rob the keys to the tiger’s cage. What should Rob do? Should he tell Sistine? If he did, Sistine would want to let the tiger go. What happens? You won’t know unless you read the book.
My favorite character is Sistine. Sistine has what I call a hard personality. That means that she knows what to say and what to do and sticks with it. An example of when Sistine is using her hard personality is when Sistine stood in front of the class. She told them about herself and called them all ignorant!

Kate DiCamillo is a great author. The Tiger Rising is Kate’s second book. Her first book is Because of Winn-Dixie. Kate likes different authors and I like that about her. Kate then has an author to look up to when she might need advice. Kate is a great author. I loved the book.

The Tiger Rising—what will Rob do?

Julie is a fourth-grader at Dedham Country Day School.

Review by Lily G.

The Tiger Rising is a good book. It is a book about a young boy named Rob. Rob has a tough life. His mother, Caroline, died and two boys, Norton and Billy, bully him. He stops school for a little while because he has a rash on his legs and some parents think it is contagious. But that all changes when he meets the tiger…

This is a very good book with great description. You can picture the people and places easily.

This is Kate DiCamillo’s second novel. She also wrote Because of Winn-Dixie, which is a Newbury Honor Book. Kate started writing when she got a job at a book warehouse but she has been reading since she was a child.

I would highly recommend this book for all ages.

Lily is a fourth-grader at Dedham Country Day School.

Review by Katie N.

The Tiger Rising is an awesome book.

The author, Kate DiCamillo, loved to read when she was a kid. The Tiger Rising is her second novel. Her first novel was Because of Winn-Dixie.

In The Tiger Rising, a boy named Rob finds a tiger in the woods. One the ride to school, Rob meets a girl, Sistine. Rob has to go home from school because he has a rash on his legs. Rob is also sad because his mother died.

I didn’t like that the book didn’t talk much about Norton and Billy, the bullies, and the principal. Also, I would change the ending of the story.

Katie is a third-grader in the Dedham Public Schools.

Click here to read the January 2004 Blue Bunny Book Reviews of the following books:

These Blue Bunny Book Reviews were compiled by Sarah McDonald, Leader of the "Blue Bunny Book Club and Review Writing" Workshop (as well as a host of other creative writing workshop at The Blue Bunny in Dedham Square). Sarah is also a journalist who writes for the Dedham Daily News Transcript. For more information about this workshop and others, click here to go to the Blue Bunny Workshop page.

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