Cinnamon

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Younger readers will be entranced by the illustrations and there is much for older readers to discuss (why does the princess feel she has nothing to say, why does love give her voice while pain and fear do not, do elderly opinionated women warrant shutting up?

Unlike other stories by Neil Gaiman, this one takes place in India, but it is not any less enchanting or delightful (Norse mythology is this author's strength so it was no matter of course). Naturally, the parents are not pleased, especially when they find out what the tiger really wants in compensation…….However, he also shows her love by licking her face with his rough, red tongue, which is what makes Cinnamon utter her first word. Until a mighty tiger, huge and fierce, prowls into their palace and announces that he is here to teach the girl-cub to talk . Once they see the magic in exploring new stories outside their horizon, nothing will stop them from joining the jungle of life! A dry sense of humour pervades every page in the text, from the distinctly unimpressive list of "riches" the Rajah and Rani offer in reward to anyone who can teach their daughter to read, through the parrot who speaks in limericks, to the fate of the miserable old aunt.

It's something that I think would be very fun to dissect for themes and morals and such, but it's also something I would read to my (hypothetical) children just for the enjoyment of the story.It revolves around a little princess of India who doesn't talk and her parents' continuous attempt to make her do so. After numerous teachers have tried everything they could think of, she therefore gets put in a room with a man-eating tiger. NEIL GAIMAN is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels 'Neverwhere', 'Stardust', the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning 'American Gods', 'Anansi Boys', and 'Good Omens' (with Terry Pratchett), as well as the short story collections 'Smoke and Mirrors' and 'Fragile Things'. Alone with the Princess, the tiger – 'a nightmare in black and orange who moved like a god through the world' – shows Cinnamon pain, by sticking a claw into her hand, and fear, by roaring its terrible roar. With a copyright date of 1995, Neil Gaiman's Cinnamon was apparently originally available as an ebook, and has only now, in 2017, been made into a picture-book, with beautiful illustrations by the talented Divya Srinivasan.