The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

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Title: The Tiger Rising

Author: Kate DiCamillo

Genre: Children's Fantasy

Length: 116 pages

Published: 2002

Publisher: Scholastic

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) Walking through the misty Florida woods one morning, twelve-year-old Rob Horton is stunned to encounter a tiger - a real-life, very large tiger - pacing back and forth in a cage. What’s more, on the same extraordinary day, he meets Sistine Bailey, a girl who shows her feelings as readily as Rob hides his. As they learn to trust each other, and ultimately, to be friends, Rob and Sistine prove that some things - like memories, and heartaches, and tigers - can’t be locked up forever.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

This was an amazing story about friendship, grief, love, and regaining happiness. Rob has buried the sadness of his mother's death deep inside, and his father refuses to speak about his mother. Sistine is the new girl, who is adamant her cheating father (that her mother left) is coming to get her. She spends her days fighting because she's so incredibly angry.

The two become friends because of a secret they share: there is a tiger in a cage in the woods. Sistine wants to free the tiger, and Rob is worried that by doing so something horrible will happen. The story ends in a way that you may or may not expect. Yet, good comes of it. I'll let you find that out for yourself. 

You can purchase The Tiger Rising through Amazon in either hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read The Tiger Rising? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

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Title: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Author: Kate DiCamillo

Genre: Children's Fantasy

Length: 200 pages

Published: 2006

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Brief Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads) "Someone will come for you, but first you must open your heart. . . ."

Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely.

And then, one day, he was lost.

Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hobo's camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis. And along the way, we are shown a true miracle — that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.

My Review:

I give this book a 5 out of 5. 

This was a delightful children's tale about love, and how you can go from loving to losing your love, to loving again. It is a sweet story about a china rabbit who is loved and then lost by his little girl, Abilene. You follow the story of Edward as he is found by a fisherman, then tossed in the dump and picked up by a hobo and his faithful dog. Eventually he ends up in a doll shop and waits for years to be bought again. 

You can purchase The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane through Amazon in either hard copy or Kindle format. 

Have you read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane? If so, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! 

Please note: I was not compensated in any way for this review. It is strictly my opinion.