the tiger who came to tea

[codswallop]

evry time I read htat i wonder

1. has ht emother tripped out and gone mad?
   
2. is she too idle to cook?
   
3. is she an old alcy who dramnk all the beer herself?
   
4. Is it a total fabrication to justify going out for tea?

[Blu]

Hmmmm (re paramour theory) - would explain why there's none left for daddy - and no, no KatirRocket, don't go all hardcore on us - it's an allegory!

[codswallop]

he is the terry thomas of tigers

( she says alliteratively)

[codswallop]

here's yer tiger

[katierocket]

oh yes, obviously I knew that.....

[codswallop]

dont you think?

[katierocket]

yes, very suave

[tamum]

Oh spot on about Terry Thomas. Quite right about Sophie's manners katierocket, well spotted. Incidentally, do they not have mains water???

[katierocket]

hmm does seem odd tamum given the urban area that they live in

[3PRINCESSES]

Oh dear. Was throroughly enjoying eavesdropping this discussion until the betiality thing put me in mind of a compellingly odd short story by Kate Atkinson called The Cat Lover. Anyone read it? Suffice it to say it ends with the woman having an ultrasound scan which reveals she's pregnant with 4 (possibly 5) tiger cubs. Now we all know where Ms. Atkinson got the idea from - and where Sophie's Mummy gor her replete smile from. Shall try to persuade dd to have something else for a bedtime story tonight!

[Piffleoffagus]

that woman in TTWCTT is just like my mum, she would suddenly flounce and take us out to a little cafe for tea... That book still makes me smile with a tear or two at times!

[suzywong]

I like Sophie's purple and pink diamond pattern tights

[soyabean]

Suzywong thats exactly what I was thinking as I read the thread.I love that book and ds1 did, he had an imaginary tiger friend for a few months when he was three. Dd loved it too but 5 yr old ds2 not keen. So I dont get to read it these days. He loves tigers but only fierce ones...

[clary]

Katirrocket just want to point out that tho Sophie stands on the chair, she takes the cushion off first! (DS1 noticed that, not me) I love the bit where Sophie strokes the tiger's tail.

[katierocket]

Fair point Clary.

Doesn't the mum look trendy when they go shopping with her orange coat and knee high boots.

[musica]

I'm fairly sure that Sophie and her mum are in fact responsible for the whole thing. But what is the significance of the picture of the stripy orange cat when they go out to the cafe? Could it be that the little cat had got into the house and caused everything??

[Marina]

MIL, an infant teacher for 30 odd years, says that the tiger represents the rage of the not-yet-independent preschooler and her yearning to be out of the house. Hence kitty shrinks back into proportion once they are off to the cafe.
The tiger, by trashing the kitchen and eating all the food, is also doing the stuff Sophie secretly wants to do but can't.
I rather like the idea of the tiger as a Leslie Phillips/Terry Thomas/George Sanders sauve philanderer though! And I love the book.

[marthamoo]

Oh how I love that book! Can't believe no-one has mentioned the obvious explanation - Mum has been on MN all day, realised Daddy will be back any second, and asks fellow MNers to come up with a reason for there being no food in the house and no dinner ready. MNers are such a creative and imaginative lot they come up with the Tiger story (may well be Freudian, psycho-sexual undertones) and Bob's Your Uncle!

And I do hope you all know that the tiger speaks in Leslie Phillip's voice? Simply cannot be read in any other way

[Marina]

Oh, posts crossed Musica!

[marthamoo]

Snap Marina!

[Marina]

Well hell-oo Marthamoo!

[Blu]

ROFL M'moo.

[marthamoo]

Well, "hell-air there" yourself marina

[frogs]

Surely Sophie's Mummy is the coolest cat in town?

When faced with a big, furry, stripy Tiger asking to come in for tea, does she run screeching and swearing into the kitchen, assuming she must be hallucinating from lack of sleep? She does not. Without missing a beat, with impeccable 1950s manners she says, "Of course. Come in."

What a role model for us all.

[Issymum]

Surely, ladies, this is just an exercise in avant-garde Magic Realism (Isabelle Allende et al). Enough pretentious lit-crit from Issymum.

TTWCTT has an extraordinary dreamy quality. When I first read it to DD1 I realised, with complete clarity, that I had read it as a child but forgetten it for, oh, 30-odd years. Probably still my favourite children's book. But I still don't like the drawing of the Tiger's tongue under the tap ("He drank all the water in the tap..." - it looks too thick and square.

[katierocket]

ROFL frogs