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Article Title

Anne and the Tiger Raja

Authors

Rebeca Wallin

Keywords

Excellent, Preschool, Primary, David F. Eliet, Indonesian Folk Tales, Bullies, Storytelling, Tigers, India, Borneo

Document Type

Play Review

Abstract

Anne is having trouble on the playground with two bullies. She wants to fight back violently, but she meets Isaac who tells her that “violence never really solves anything. You have to use your imagination to come up with other solutions.” The children proceed to work together, taking on characters that suit their personalities, to tell the story of the Tiger Raja in Java, based on the Indonesian folk tale Why There Are No Tigers in Borneo. When food becomes scarce in Java, the Tiger Raja sends a messenger to Borneo to demand that the tigers either send food or be attacked. Raja sends a whisker from his face to awe and terrorize them with his size. When the tiger messenger arrives he meets the wily Mouse Deer who, anxious to keep tigers off her island, sends a porcupine quill back as evidence of Raja’s size and strength. Her trick works and the tigers abandon their plan. Isaac’s point is driven home when he explains that an even bigger bully, Man, eventually wipes out the population of tigers in Java. Predictably, the children in the play quickly learn their lesson and decide to get along.

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