It’s late summer on Mountain Pond as a boy and his family take their annual camping trip before the start of school. With the comfort and familiarity of kindergarten behind him, the boy is apprehensive about starting first grade. As they set up their campsite, the family is startled to see a tiger—thin, small, and stern. He requests an extra tent and stays with the family all weekend. The boy curls up with him in the tent, follows him along a trail, and rides alone in a canoe with him to look at the stars. The tiger vanishes just before vacation ends. Back home, the boy is doing things now that his mother used to do for him, like making his bed and folding his clothes. The boy, who appears to be biracial (Asian/white), draws the tiger from memory the night before school starts as a gift for his new teacher. Stunning illustrations accompany this imaginative story, a subtle metaphor for a time of growth and transition that invites discussion and provokes thought. (Ages 4–8)