Who Is The Beast?

Review by Bill Rich

Book Written and Illustrated by Keith Baker

This wonderfully illustrated gem of a book by Keith Baker celebrates diversity in a way that young children can understand. Deep in the jungle, animals avoid a tiger, “The Beast.” Each one describes a feature of the beast, strong legs, stripes, swinging tail. As the tiger gazes at its reflection in a pond, it wonders,

“Who is the beast? Who can it be? I see no beast. I just see me. Am I the beast? Could the beast be me? I must go back to them and see.”

The tiger goes back to all of the other animals and shows them that they are all similar in some way.

Children will easily identify the tiger’s feelings through the facial expressions in Mr. Baker’s illustrations. They will relate to the tiger’s sadness when it knows all are afraid of it and its ultimate happiness when it gains new friends.

I read this book early in the year to my students to begin conversations on how we make friendships at our school.