Kate's well-beloved grandfather has just died, and she is trying to make sense of the adult reminiscences whirling around above her head. The funeral hadn't meant much to an eight year old, and as she was missing granddad so much, she couldn't understand why her mother and father and all the other people at the party were able to remember him with laughter and enjoyment of his idiosyncrasies. To Kate he was simply the best, and they had always enjoyed so many things together, particularly their love of tigers. Granddad's shed had pictures of tigers on the wall, and they had read about them together. Also, he had given Kate a tiger, a real, wild one, for Christmas. She got letters about her tiger and pictures too. He had also given her a toy stuffed tiger, Amos, that she carried everywhere and was a great comfort to her. So it is hardly surprising that when she goes to granddad's shed to sense him around her, she falls asleep and seems to feel that a real tiger has come from the shadows and curled up around her sleeping form - a friendly tiger who purrs loudly and is warm and stripy. The succeeding days are difficult for all the family, and Kate and her older sister Molly must be taken to a holiday club as their parents have to go back to work and it is still the Easter holiday. This does not go well, and Kate hates the club. It is only the fact that Amos goes with her and that she can have a look at him in her bag from time to time that helps at all. The family all seem at sixes and sevens until an event when mum and Molly break down and Kate is able to see that everyone has been saddened and upset about granddad's death. There is a perfect surprise ending that will help Kate accept the inevitable. This is a beautifully sensitive book about a little girl and her family who are trying in their very different ways to come to terms with an important death, a special one to each of them. The soft-focus black and white pictures, while not numerous, add greatly to the story's sensitive nature.