One morning the tiger boldly declares he is king of the jungle. Needless to say, Leo the lion disagrees, and a terrible, day-long battle for primacy ensues. All of the animals from the aardvark to the zebra join in the violence, though most are unsure about what they are fighting for. At day's end, all of the animals are dead, save a horrified macaw and cockatoo, "screaming in horror," and a fatally wounded tiger left to contemplate his hollow victory. Yoon brings celebrated humorist Thurber's classic antiwar fable to powerful new life in a series of fairly harrowing double-page spreads. Limiting her palette to two colors, she works in an abstract expressionist style that captures the senselessness of war. A central gatefold illustration, offering a panoramic view of the height of the battle, evokes Picasso's legendary Guernica. Though not for the youngest readers, this viscerally powerful picture book will likely find a receptive audience among older children, inviting them to discuss the meaninglessness of war.

Gr 3 Up-Thurber's fable of the tiger who decided to overthrow the lion and become king of the beasts might remind people of some of the world's contemporary chaos. A massive battle erupts as the animals take sides in the attempted overthrow. Some of the animals did not know which side they were fighting for, and some "fought whoever was nearest, and some fought for the sake of fighting." "'What are we fighting for?' someone asked the aardvark. 'The old order,' said the aardvark. 'What are we dying for?' someone asked the zebra. 'The new order,' said the zebra." Yoon's strong color scheme of orange, green, black, and cream features crudely formed animals boldly filling black and sometimes cream pages. Oddly shaped palm-style trees and fields of grass spread across a few scenes, but masses of animals predominate with the heart of the horrendous battle spread profusely over a long double foldout view. This dark tale ends with all the animals dead "except the tiger, and his days were numbered and his time ticking away." As is customary in fables, there's a moral: "You can't very well be king of the beasts if there aren't any." VERDICT A perfect picture book for older readers that serves as a powerful lesson about war and great fodder for discussion. Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston