Shortlisted for the People’s Book Prize 2021

Two homesick Indian boys and their new Scottish friend join a magical tiger on a journey across continents.

Lal and his brother Dilip miss home. They don’t like drizzle, midges, or the tiger skin rug in their creepy new house. All they want is to leave Scotland and go back to India.

But that’s before they make friends with Jenny, the girl next door -- and before the tiger-skin rug comes back to life.

The tiger tells them it will take them home in return for their help: it cannot rest until it fulfils an old promise.

The mission takes them on a magic ride across the United Kingdom and then back to India. Along the way, they encounter adults and children from different cultures and backgrounds – and a mysterious man who seems to be following them...

Finishing their adventure in a wildlife refuge, the children learn the true significance of the tiger skin rug’s final message – and come to understand the real meaning of home.

Joan Haig, born in Zambia, was weaned on avocados and stories. Having lived all over the world, she now lives in the Scottish Borders with her husband and two sons. She recently edited an anthology for children in lockdown and is working on a children’s nonfiction book. Tiger Skin Rug is her first novel.