Yep, Laurence. 2003. THE TIGER’S APPRENTICE. New York, NY. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06001014-2.

BIBLIOGRPAHY 

Yep, Laurence. 2003. THE TIGER’S APPRENTICE. New York, NY. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06001014-2. 

PLOT SUMMARY 

A young boy, Tom, becomes orphaned as his grandmother passes away. She, who was the protector of a magical egg, leaves Mr. Hu who is a man who transforms into a tiger in charge. As the next in line to protect the egg. Her death sparks other magical creatures to try and steal the egg and Tom and Mr. Hu go on a magical journey through different environments as well as different dimensions to save the egg. Mr. Hu and Tom embark on this journey with a dragon and a monkey. Tom becomes the Tiger’s apprentice and gets help from his guardian, Mr. Hu, as he needs help saving his own life.   

CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS) 

The fantasy characters, of the transforming tiger, the dragon and the monkey are representative of Asian fiction. There is a balance of good and evil as we see villainous characters after the mystical egg and then the characters that are working to protect it. Tom, a human interacts with these transforming creatures which shows he interacts with other cultures. The setting is of different environments as they travel through different dimensions and air and underwater. These environments are representative of the magic fiction for the story. The story is filled with rich Asian Cultural details such as the meat and vegetable pastries and tea, which are foods representative of Asian culture. We see mentions of Asian artifacts such as “Beside them dangled yellow scrolls with more Chinese words written in bright red. Other scrolls had strange pictures and diagrams.”  

There are mentions of Chinese traditions such as the explanation of Nu Kua, “As a child, Nu Kua spent most of her time cutting wood near her parents’ home. When her brother became emperor, he summoned her; and when he died, she succeeded him. She had great power and wisdom and ruled the people well. -Chinese Tradition” This story continues in a series and so it invites the reader to respond by continuing to the next book to see what will happen next. This book meets the criteria for this specific genre of Chinese American fiction and fantasy fiction. The story is lengthy and includes a lot of detail of the environments they encounter.  

REVIEW EXCERPTS 

Book Links, 03/01/05 

Booklist, 07/01/03 

Kirkus Reviews, 03/01/03 

Library Media Connection, 11/01/03 

Publishers Weekly, 04/14/03 

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) 06/01/04 

Wilson’s Junior High School, 08/01/04 

Booklist (July 2003 (Vol. 99, No. 21)): “The Harry-Potter like events are enticing, and the elements of Chinese mythology and culture give the story a distinctively Asian perspective.” 

Horn Book Guide (Fall 2003): “Yep draws from Chinese creation myths to develop his characters and their histories, but the novel gets off to a slow start and the writing is persistently chunky.” 

Kirkus Reviews (March 1, 2003): “Near the end, Mr. Hu shares his soul to save Tom’s life; what Tom will be like as part tiger, and what the monsters will try next to procure the object, must wait for the second entry in this simultaneously gentle and suspenseful series.” 

CONNECTIONS 

Readers can illustrate their favorite character from the story. 

Students can illustrate their favorite scene from the story and write a description to explain their drawings.  

Readers can read the continuing books in this series to finish the story.  

Gaiman, Neil. CORALINE. ISBN 978-1-41553-201-0 

Carrol, Lewis. ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. ISBN 978-1-22229-686-0 

Barnhill, Kelly Regan. THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON. ISBN 978-1-43284-093-8