A review by jessalynn_librarian
Camp Tiger by Susan Choi

5.0

June 2019. Wow. I read this to myself when the hold came in, and almost teared up. The story is a perfect blend of realism and fantasy - I see so much of my own almost 1st grader in the main character, and there's a hint of melancholy as the summer is almost over. And the tiger - I thought for a minute that maybe only the boy could see the tiger, but there are references to the rest of the family talking to him. But the tiger has such powerful symbolism even if he's meant to be real, that I keep coming back to think about the story. It clearly grabbed Ben - he'd looked through the pictures before I read it to him, but was still shocked when the tiger spoke and happy to linger over some of the pictures. And what great illustrations - the realism and fantasy are both there, too, since they're lush but realistic. Makes me ready to go camping.