Tiger Trouble (Tig and Lily #1)

Tig, a tiny marmalade-colored house cat who’s convinced he’s a tiger, makes himself at home in the zoo habitat of Lily, a large, levelheaded tiger, in this tongue-in-cheek graphic novel series launch by Thompson (Escape from Camp Cooties). When Tig arrives—“It’s so great to be home!” he declares—Lily is initially confused by the feline’s belief that she is not, in fact, a tiger like Tig. Lily is momentarily flummoxed, believing that maybe she really isn’t a tiger, but confirmation from the habitat’s interpretative plaque reminds her of what she is. Now more secure in her own skin, Lily is able to rescue Tig from a confrontation with two hostile tigers who attempt to take the air out of the kitty’s inflated sense of self. “You can be whatever you want to be,” Lily asserts, and this offer of friendship makes Tig almost conciliatory—even if he doesn’t really change his stripes: “With a little more practice, you could be a tiger just like me,” he says. The minimally detailed, single-panel drawings allow the jaunty dialogue to shine, and budding aficionados of snappy verbal repartee will find their funny bones thoroughly tickled. Ages 5–8. Agent: Judy Hansen, Hansen Literary. (May)