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.