Ravi's Roar

November 15, 2019
Ravi is the smallest in his family--even Biscuits the dog is bigger. Most of the time, Ravi is happy with his stature, but on one particular afternoon on the playground, Ravi is frustrated by the too-high monkey bars and the too-big slide. When his siblings race to the ice cream vendor before him and the vendor runs out of ice cream, Ravi is enraged. "He growled... / and a stripy tail popped out from the back of his shorts. / Then... / he sprouted two furry ears, sharp, pointy teeth, and stripy orange fur. // Ravi had turned into a TIGER!" Ravi's family is frightened: His brother hands the tiger his ice cream, and everyone vacates a bench when the tiger roars. Emboldened, Ravi conquers the monkey bars and slide but soon realizes that nobody wants to play with him because he is irrationally angry. All ends well with apologies and hugs. While unremarkable in themes, Percival's tale does depict a South Asian family engaged in everyday activities; that it's father-led normalizes the possibility that the family in the book is a single-father household. The illustrations are also quite punchy and dramatically flip from full-color to a very appropriate limited palette--orange, black, white--when Ravi is depicted as a tiger. An understated book about losing one's temper and the love of family. (Picture book. 3-6)

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December 2, 2019
Ravi, a brown-skinned boy in a jaunty striped polo shirt and red shorts, feels the limitations of being “the youngest/ and the smallest/ in his family.” After he fails to spot the others during hide-and-seek and struggles to navigate the playground, Ravi becomes progressively angrier—and visibly redder—as he runs into incessant obstacles. When his father takes him for a consolation ice cream and there is none left for him, Ravi morphs into a flaming orange tiger, letting out a “ROAR!” This fearsome transformation gets Ravi everything—no person or thing stands in his way. Though he “did exactly what he wanted,” the others cease wanting to play with the wound-up feline, and after he apologizes for his rampage, Ravi turns back into a boy again. A note that Ravi’s transformation is an isolated incident perhaps undercuts the idea that everyone becomes deeply frustrated from time to time. Still, the narrative’s sentiment is earnest, and its familial affection, clear. Percival’s textural, digitally rendered artwork moves from color into grayscale as Ravi’s transformation occurs, and the child’s fiery emotions hold the spotlight. Ages 3–6.

February 1, 2020

PreS-Gr 1-A small boy turns into a ferocious beast after a frustrating day. Ravi is the smallest person in his family, even smaller than Biscuits, the dog. Most of the time he doesn't mind; but one day it all becomes too much, and in a rage Ravi turns into a tiger. Being a tiger is great, since no one dares to say no to a scary, roaring tiger. But after all his roaring, snatching, and screaming alienates the other kids on the playground, Ravi realizes that being a tiger isn't actually making him happy. It's at this point that Ravi's family catches up and with a hug and an apology, he is back to being a kid again. The digitally created illustrations feature detailed textures and line work. When Ravi's tiger transition begins, the background fades to black and white to further highlight the emotions writhing around him in bright red squiggles and splotches. Readers will notice how this visible indication of Ravi's anger slowly builds with each mounting frustration. The text consists mainly of Ravi's thoughts, delivered with the perfectly recreated cadence of a totally exasperated kid. Ravi's family is never upset at him for being angry, they just wait for his anger to fade. Even Biscuits looks understanding. Ravi's father's reassurance of, "That's okay, good job for saying sorry!" encapsulates the message to all readers that anger is okay and that forgiveness is yours if you ask for it. VERDICT A great addition to highlight emotional awareness. Recommended for purchase.-Laken Hottle, Providence Community Library

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November 15, 2019
Preschool-G Ravi usually doesn't mind being the smallest in the family, but one day everything goes wrong. He is last to the train, can't find anyone during hide and seek, isn't allowed down the big slide, and the ice cream cart runs out of ice cream right in front of him. Enough is enough. Ravi turns into a tiger and roars his most ferocious roar?but he soon realizes no one wants to play with angry tigers. A sweet and simple behavioral tale, this book will be familiar for little ones who occasionally get overwhelmed, and it uses coaching techniques for calming down. It recognizes anger without either shaming or validating it and would be an easy entry point for a discussion about learning to control one's emotions or empathizing with those who might need a little extra help today. Emotion is thoughtfully presented through color (as Ravi's anger amps up, he grows increasingly red and the rest of the book fades to black and white), and it's lovely to see diversity represented through this Indian American family.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)