A Tiger Named Ariel

This story is not about a tiger, but about a boy who pretends to be one. Is there any child who doesn`t want to be a tiger? Sometimes a child identifies with his role so completely that he forgets he`s a child, and that sometimes annoys his parents and relatives. But this doesn`t happen to Ariel. His mother understands her son`s needs, and this book, after all, is for mothers too.

Ariel gets a new shirt with a tiger on it. He puts it on and begins to roar like a tiger. He refuses to take it off even to go to sleep. Mommy says, “That`s fine,” and kisses him goodnight. Next morning when Ariel goes to kindergarten, he won’t change his shirt. He roars at the other children and won`t play their games. After all, he`s a tiger, not a child. When he gets home again, Grandpa is there for a visit and Ariel roars at him. “Please don’t gobble me up,” Grandpa says. Ariel agrees, and asks for a story. Ariel wears the tiger shirt for days and it gets dirtier and dirtier. But his mother has lots of patience.

One day, though, his friend Naomi comes to kindergarten wearing a lion shirt. She roars at Ariel who gets frightened and starts crying. But right away, he remembers he`s a tiger and roars back. When the two finish crying and roaring, they eat cookies and play. The next day, Ariel doesn`t want to wear the tiger shirt anymore. “I`m not a tiger anymore,” he says. “I`m a big scary rooster!” and he starts crowing at the top of his voice. But Mommy isn`t frightened this time either. She goes into the kitchen and makes some special cocoa for big scary roosters. What is she thinking while she does it? We can only guess.