29th July International Tiger Day.

The world celebrates Tiger Day on July 29th to show our collective support for the magnificent yet endangered big cat.

I have written about this day before, here and here, but quite some time ago and while there are sufficient picture books to celebrate this day, here's some newer ones to look for. There's a Tiger on the Train  by Mariesa Dulak and Rebecca Cobb is a must read!

Big Cats

Having just written about Cheetah Day and realising that although I have a Pinterest page for tigers and lions, I do not have one that features the other big cats. So here I plan to summarise all the days that are associated with Big Cats. There is not a combined day for all big cats.

The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus Panthera, namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard, as well as the non-pantherine cheetah and cougar. Wikipedia

Mass: Cougar: 53 – 72 kg, Tiger: 90 – 310 kg, Leopard: 31 kg · See more

Lifespan: Cougar: 8 – 13 years, Tiger: 10 – 15 years, Leopard: 12 – 17 years, Lion: 15 – 16 years, Jaguar: 12 – 15 years

Speed: Cougar: 64 – 80 km/h, Tiger: 49 – 65 km/h, Leopard: 58 km/h, Lion: 74 km/h, Jaguar: 80 km/h, Cheetah: 80 – 130 km/h

There is a celebratory day for each of the big cats!

So if you are planning your year you can have several displays. I would struggle to find enough books for Cougar Day, but the rest I have written about on this blog with book suggestions.

Leopards in May. (3rd)

Cougars in June. (12th)

Tigers in July.(29th)

Lions in August. (10th)

Snow Leopards in October. (23rd)

Jaguars in November (29th)  and 

Cheetahs in December (4th)

29th July International Tiger Day

I have written about this celebration before here, but I need to tell you about some tiger books that have been added to the library since then and two of them are never in the library. As soon as they are returned, they leave again. They are:
• There's a Tiger in the Garden  by Lizzy Stewart
• Tiger in a Tutu by Fabi Santiago.

As well, this year I have purchased these
• Cinnamon  a fable by Neil Gaiman.
• Never Tickle a Tiger by Pamela Butchart
• Goodnight Tiger  by Timothy Knapman
• Tiger Tiger  by Jonny Lambert

There are 125 fiction books in the library featuring tigers as well as several lovely nonfiction titles, so come the end of the month the library will be roaring with tigers!

29th July International Tiger Day

International Tiger Day is held annually to raise public awareness of tiger conservation issues. It is becoming more important each year as the number of tigers are decreasing quite rapidly. Recently I heard the tiger keeper from Australia Zoo interviewed on Conversation Hour on the ABC and I found what he had to say fascinating. It lead to me doing a bit of research and thinking it would be a fun topic to explore with students at school.

The fiction tiger titles are borrowed, but the nonfiction books on tigers (in fact any big cats) are very popular in my library. Whenever we put together a display and include a few cuddly toy tigers the books walk out the door. So having a global celebration of tigers is a good excuse to put together a display this week. What is in our library is here on pinterest.

Do a quick survey to see which is the most popular tiger book in your library. I love The Tiger-Skin Rug  by Gerald Rose. The librarian I share the library with loves Augustus and His Smile  by Catherine Rayner. One of the preschool teachers constantly has The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr on loan to her. One of the Kindergarten teachers has become a fan of The Rat and the Tiger by Keiko Kasza since doing a philosophy PD course and the students have become loyal fans of two newer books Mr Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown and The Sea Tiger by Victoria Turnbull.

The shortlist for The Environment Award for Children's Literature 2015 was announced in July and Our Class Tiger by Aleesah Darlison is on that shortlist in the non-fiction category. See the full shortlist here.