When Emily gets angry, she doesn't just throw temper tantrums, she turns into a fearsome tiger. After Granny shows her how to become a happy tiger instead of an angry one, Emily manages to participate in a variety of activities, such as brushing her teeth and eating her carrots, without getting upset. At night Granny shows Emily how happy tigers can soar over hedges, scale walls, climb trees, and even jump over the moon. Colorful acrylic-and-collage illustrations fill each double-page spread, and cartoonish figures skillfully convey the activities, both the real ones and the ones that show characters transformed into tigers. The cause-and-effect message is perhaps a bit subtle for children needing to tame their own tigers, but listeners will certainly understand the idea of bonding with a grandparent, and the story presents everyday situations that many children will recognize. Pair this with Molly Bang's When Sophie Gets Angry ally, Really Angry (1999).

K-Gr 2 Emily has a tiger living inside her. Whenever she gets angry or frustrated, it comes out and does lots of damage. Her parents' helpless reaction to all of her tiger tantrums is always the same: "Oh, Emily, what are we going to do with you?" After she wrecks the house, spoils a birthday party, and sends a plate full of food sailing through the air, Emily's granny pops in for a visit and shares her secret: she has a tiger inside her, too. It seems that Granny's tiger knows how to control herself, and likes to be happy instead of mad. Emily likes the sound of that, and gets right to work adjusting her tiger's attitude. She restrains herself on the playground, eats all her carrots, and voluntarily gets ready for bed. Later that night, Granny Tiger and Emily Tiger slip out and magically bound all over the neighborhood, in perfect harmony with everything. This effort at whimsy-with-a-message is something of a lame, confusing idea built around a weak metaphor. Most of Latimer's images are capably rendered in acrylics and incorporate collage, but the collage elements are arbitrary and inconsistent, adding little to the presentation. There are better stories available about children who act out: Molly Bang's When Sophie Gets AngryReally, Really Angry (Scholastic, 1999) springs to mind. Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC