100 books like Spell of the Tiger

By Sy Montgomery,

Here are 100 books that Spell of the Tiger fans have personally recommended if you like Spell of the Tiger. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Book cover of The Deer and the Tiger: A Study of Wildlife in India

K. Ullas Karanth Author Of Among Tigers: Fighting to Bring Back Asia's Big Cats

From my list on the world’s most popular wild animal.

Why am I passionate about this?

This is a unique tale of exciting personal encounters with wild tigers as well my hard science that revealed their mysterious world. Readers will experience the conflicts, violence, and corruption, inherent to struggle to recover the charismatic, dangerous predator. Among Tigers is not the usual doomsday prophecy, but a clear roadmap for how we can grow tiger populations to new levels of abundance. While it does not gloss over the very real challenges, overall, it delivers a message of reasonable hope to nature lovers worldwide. I have scientifically researched tigers and, fought passionately to save them, making me uniquely qualified to tell this story like no one else can. 

K.'s book list on the world’s most popular wild animal

K. Ullas Karanth Why did K. love this book?

George Schaller is my idol and hero. His book inspired me when I was just 17 years old, then a reluctant student of engineering. It was the beacon of scientific clarity that focused my passion for tigers and nature towards clear-headed action, motivating me to struggle for over a decade and change my career to one devoted to the pursuit of tiger biology and conservation. It is a superb popular science book, in which the writing also rises to the highest literary quality-one that takes you right into the world of beleaguered tigers of India in the early 1960s.  

By George B. Schaller,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Deer and the Tiger as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Deer and the Tiger is Schaller's detailed account of the ecology and behavior of Bengal tigers and four species of the hoofed mammals on which they prey, based on his observations in India's Kanha National Park.

"This book is a treasure house of biological information and it is also a delight to read. . . . Excellent phoographs accompany the text."-Robert K. Enders, American Scientist

"The one book that has been my greatest source of inspiration is The Deer and the Tiger by George Schaller, based on the first ever scientific field study of the tiger. . . .…


Book cover of Tiger Moon: Tracking the Great Cats in Nepal

K. Ullas Karanth Author Of Among Tigers: Fighting to Bring Back Asia's Big Cats

From my list on the world’s most popular wild animal.

Why am I passionate about this?

This is a unique tale of exciting personal encounters with wild tigers as well my hard science that revealed their mysterious world. Readers will experience the conflicts, violence, and corruption, inherent to struggle to recover the charismatic, dangerous predator. Among Tigers is not the usual doomsday prophecy, but a clear roadmap for how we can grow tiger populations to new levels of abundance. While it does not gloss over the very real challenges, overall, it delivers a message of reasonable hope to nature lovers worldwide. I have scientifically researched tigers and, fought passionately to save them, making me uniquely qualified to tell this story like no one else can. 

K.'s book list on the world’s most popular wild animal

K. Ullas Karanth Why did K. love this book?

Sunquists were my mentors who introduced me to the methods of safely catching wild tigers and radio-tracking them skillfully thereafter. Mel, a pioneer in large carnivore telemetry studies, and Fiona, an accomplished naturalist, writer and wildlife photographer, have collaborated in this book that describes in detail the first ever radio-tracking study of wild tigers they conducted in Chitwan Park Nepal in the early 1970s. It brilliantly captures the ecology of these tigers, the social context of conservation in Nepal, and their own love affair that blossoms after a chance encounter in the park. The sparkling, witty narrative and the accurate tiger science encased within it, make this a memorable read. 

By Fiona Sunquist, Mel Sunquist,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tiger Moon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Tiger Moon" is the powerful, poetic story of the Sunquists' two years studying tigers in Nepal. A new afterword tells the story of promising efforts to reconnect fractured Nepalese tiger habitats.


Book cover of Tiger-Wallahs: Encounters With the Men Who Tried to Save the Greatest of the Great Cats

K. Ullas Karanth Author Of Among Tigers: Fighting to Bring Back Asia's Big Cats

From my list on the world’s most popular wild animal.

Why am I passionate about this?

This is a unique tale of exciting personal encounters with wild tigers as well my hard science that revealed their mysterious world. Readers will experience the conflicts, violence, and corruption, inherent to struggle to recover the charismatic, dangerous predator. Among Tigers is not the usual doomsday prophecy, but a clear roadmap for how we can grow tiger populations to new levels of abundance. While it does not gloss over the very real challenges, overall, it delivers a message of reasonable hope to nature lovers worldwide. I have scientifically researched tigers and, fought passionately to save them, making me uniquely qualified to tell this story like no one else can. 

K.'s book list on the world’s most popular wild animal

K. Ullas Karanth Why did K. love this book?

Geoff is an eminent Historian having scripted many classics such as the Civil War TV series and, Diane, is a former Newsweek journalist who has reported on environmental issues. Both are tiger-keen aficionados’ who are—for some unfathomable reason—also morbidly fascinated by generations of gritty, grimy, and aggravatingly stubborn conservationists in India, who have fought to save India’s wild tigers through the colonial and post-colonial eras. They also write in an engaging, witty style focusing on tiger-obsessed humans rather than the magnificent cat. As one of their ‘subjects’ I believe this book provides the appropriate social and historical contexts for my own book.  

By Geoffrey C. Ward, Diane Raines Ward,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tiger-Wallahs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Describes efforts to save the Indian tiger from extinction, and why those efforts seemed doomed to failure


Book cover of Whole Earth Discipline

K. Ullas Karanth Author Of Among Tigers: Fighting to Bring Back Asia's Big Cats

From my list on the world’s most popular wild animal.

Why am I passionate about this?

This is a unique tale of exciting personal encounters with wild tigers as well my hard science that revealed their mysterious world. Readers will experience the conflicts, violence, and corruption, inherent to struggle to recover the charismatic, dangerous predator. Among Tigers is not the usual doomsday prophecy, but a clear roadmap for how we can grow tiger populations to new levels of abundance. While it does not gloss over the very real challenges, overall, it delivers a message of reasonable hope to nature lovers worldwide. I have scientifically researched tigers and, fought passionately to save them, making me uniquely qualified to tell this story like no one else can. 

K.'s book list on the world’s most popular wild animal

K. Ullas Karanth Why did K. love this book?

I love tigers and nature. But through a half-century of experience and science in my own struggle to save tigers in an ancient, crowded nation aspiring for modernity and prosperity for its citizens, I have realized that we cannot hope to rewind the clock of material progress back to save wild nature by rejecting technology. Brand, the original counter-culture Guru, boldly shook off such baggage at an advanced age, and became a passionate, early advocate of ecomodernism, which tries to decouple human needs from nature in an effort to save nature through tools of modern science. I arrived independently at similar conclusions after years of hard scientific study of tigers, as well as my lived experiences of Indian society in transition. I believe Brand’s clearheaded manual provides a succinct introduction to ideas I have outlined in my own book as a framework to get to a world harboring ten times…

By Stewart Brand,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Whole Earth Discipline as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An icon of the environmental movement outlines a provocative approach for reclaiming our planet

According to Stewart Brand, a lifelong environmentalist who sees everything in terms of solvable design problems, three profound transformations are under way on Earth right now. Climate change is real and is pushing us toward managing the planet as a whole. Urbanization?half the world?s population now lives in cities, and eighty percent will by midcentury?is altering humanity?s land impact and wealth. And biotechnology is becoming the world?s dominant engineering tool. In light of these changes, Brand suggests that environmentalists are going to have to reverse some…


Book cover of Man-Eaters of Kumaon

Adam Hart Author Of The Deadly Balance: Predators and People in a Crowded World

From my list on books that capture our place in nature.

Why am I passionate about this?

I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t captured by nature. Growing up in coastal Devon, UK, I loved immersing myself, sometimes literally, in the landscapes and nature of my surroundings. It was inevitable I would become a biologist, and I think also inevitable that I would be drawn to the field of ecology, the study of the relationships that exist within nature. I have expanded my horizons over the past decade or so, developing a deep love for the landscapes and nature of southern Africa, but the rockpools and lanes of Devon are never far away.

Adam's book list on books that capture our place in nature

Adam Hart Why did Adam love this book?

A book about hunting tigers might seem an odd choice, but I never tire of reading Jim Corbett’s first-hand account of tracking down man-eaters in India in the early 1900s. Corbett’s tracking and jungle skills were second to none, and his writing is both clear and richly descriptive.

His empathy for the rural poor of India, his respect for tigers, and his love of landscape come through so loudly it is as if you can hear him talking right at you. Corbett’s job was to kill problem tigers, and he was very good at his job. But he did a great deal to protect them, and the first National Park in India was named in his honour.

I love how, more than anyone, Corbett shows how complex conservation can be and how important people are in the overall picture.

By Jim Corbett,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Man-Eaters of Kumaon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Her tracks now–as she carried away the girl–led into the wilderness of rocks, some acres in extent, where the going was both difficult and dangerous. The cracks and chasms in between the rocks were masked with ferns, blackberry vines, and a false step, which might easily have resulted in a broken limb, would have been fatal. Progress under these conditions was of necessity slow, and the tigress was taking advantage of it to continue her meal. A dozen times I found where she had rested, and after each of these rests, the blood trail became more distinct.

This was her…


Book cover of Tiger's Curse

K. Ross Author Of Descent

From my list on teen adventures for an escape.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am all about writing unique adventures with heart. I’ve been to seven different countries, and plan to continue to grow the list. My passion for writing has become an adventure in itself. I desire to create unique young adult stories that incorporate legend, conjecture, fantasy, and conviction. In addition to loving my life as a writer, I adore being a wife, mother, friend, and teacher. I began my creative journey with books, a blog, podcast, and lots of caffeine. I’m blessed my own adventure, my life, is filled with so many wonderful people and words!

K.'s book list on teen adventures for an escape

K. Ross Why did K. love this book?

This is a story about a teenage girl, Kelsey, whose life is turned upside-down when she discovers she’s the only one who can free an Indian prince from his curse. The story takes place in our modern-day world, but Kelsey is sent on fascinating quests to piece together a prophesy and break the curse. Kelsey seems to be an average young woman, but her bravery and determination help her on the path to freeing Ren, the mysterious white tiger.

By Colleen Houck,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tiger's Curse as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

A teenage girl and a shape-shifting tiger find romance, adventure, and a dangerous quest in this New York Times bestselling fantasy series debut.

When Oregon teenager Kelsey Hayes took a summer job with a local circus, she expected to make some extra money. She never thought she’d be heading to India with a mysterious white tiger named Ren—or trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. But that’s exactly what happened.

Now she’s face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems. And as she discovers Ren’s true identity, Kelsey risks everything to piece together…


Book cover of Daniel's Potty Time

Christie Griffin Authier Author Of The Poopy Pants Dance

From my list on children’s stories about going potty.

Why am I passionate about this?

It doesn’t matter that I’m a former journalist who has also most recently worked at Sesame Workshop (yes, that Elmo!) and Mattel (Fisher-Price, Barbie, Thomas & Friends, etc). When my kiddo shouts, “Mommy! I need a bum bum wipe!” my duty is to get to that doodie ASAP. Ah, parenthood...is there anything more humbling? Someday, my kids might think it’s cool that I wrote for old-school magazines (!) and interviewed celebrities (!!) and lived in NYC for 15 years (!!!). But for now, I’m proud I get to read my silly little children’s book to them any time they ask. Or any book for that matter because books are magic!

Christie's book list on children’s stories about going potty

Christie Griffin Authier Why did Christie love this book?

Getting your child to go potty before leaving the house will be an ongoing battle long after the potty training days are over. I used to say things like, “If you don’t try to go potty, then I’ll have to take away your unicorn stuffie!” Now I say, “Let’s try to go potty like Daniel Tiger does before he goes anywhere.” The book is based on an episode, complete with sing-songy lyrics—and it just works. Ugga mugga!

By Alexandra Cassel Schwartz, Jason Fruchter (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Daniel's Potty Time as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, 5, and 6.

What is this book about?

A new generation of children love Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, inspired by the classic series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood!

Daniel Tiger goes to the potty in this relatable 8x8 storybook based on an episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. This book comes with a double-sided poster that little ones can hang up in the bathroom!

Do you have to go potty? Maybe yes? Maybe no? Why don’t you sit and try to go?

Daniel is so excited to go to the market that he insists he doesn’t need to go potty. But then he learns that it’s important to try to go before…


Book cover of The Tiger Who Came to Tea

Fabi Santiago Author Of Tiger in a Tutu

From my list on children's books with tigers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a children’s book author and illustrator and I have a special fondness for picture books. They’re often a child’s first experience of reading — or being read to, and that’s such a magical time! I still remember my favourite picture books as a child. I’m also a crazy cat person and I love all cats, big and small. My first picture book, Tiger in a Tutu, is about a tiger who lives in Paris Zoo but wants to be a ballet dancer. I made a small list of my favourite tiger picture books for you. I hope you enjoy it.

Fabi's book list on children's books with tigers

Fabi Santiago Why did Fabi love this book?

Who doesn’t love this charming tiger? I’m a huge fan of Judith Kerr’s children’s books and her sweet and child-like illustrations, so I had to add this one to the list. It’s such a classic. My favourite thing is spotting Mog in the street when the family is on their way to the cafe.

By Judith Kerr,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Tiger Who Came to Tea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, 5, and 6.

What is this book about?

READ BY GERALDINE MCEWAN. This classic story has been loved by millions of children since it was first published over 40 years ago.

The doorbell rings just as Sophie and her mummy are sitting down to tea. Who could it possibly be? What they certainly don't expect to see at the door is a big furry, stripy tiger!


Book cover of Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat

Hans Bluedorn Author Of Archer and Zowie

From my list on exploring with friends and siblings.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was homeschooled, and when I was young (back in the last millennium), we didn’t have a TV, so my parents read to us kids hours every day. This really helped pass the time because we lived in the middle of a cornfield, and there was nothing else to do but . . . watch corn grow! Later in my teens, I started writing myself. This has continued until today. Writing is a good way to explore the world of ideas. All of the books on this list have influenced my writing. 

Hans' book list on exploring with friends and siblings

Hans Bluedorn Why did Hans love this book?

I can (and have) read Calvin and Hobbes all day. Perfect on many levels. This is a good book in the series. But they are all good.

The strip is all about exploring with friends. I like how the strip avoids revealing what is real and what is imaginary. The story, art, and dialog work together and show just enough to constantly excite my imagination.

Also, each time a storyline recurs, it always tops the last time it was there. The interaction of the characters is second to none. The art is unexpected in its detail and emotion. Watterson took his work seriously.

By Bill Watterson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Calvin and Hobbes are at it again, and this time, our irrepressible friends are taking a walk on the wild side.

Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat chronicles another segment of the multifarious adventures of this wild child and his faithful, but skeptical, friend. If the best cartoons compel readers to identify themselves within the funny frames, then all who enjoy Calvin and Hobbes are creative, imaginative, and ... bad, bad, bad!

Calvin, the irascible little boy with the stuffed tiger who comes to life are a pair bound for trouble. Boring school lessons become occasions for death-defying alien air battles, speeding…


Book cover of Daniel Has an Allergy

Andrea Pyros Author Of My Year of Epic Rock

From my list on food allergies.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a kidlit author myself. I’ve written two middle-grade novels, one of which is all about having a food allergy, but my interest in food allergies is all due to my first kid. Amelia was born with multiple allergies to common ingredients like eggs and dairy. At first it was hard! Figuring out how to cook for her at home and keep her safe when she was in school or at a friend’s house felt daunting and frightening, so we turned to books for advice, recipes, and education for the entire family. Even if your reader isn’t the one with allergies, they’ve no doubt got a classmate or family member who does. 

Andrea's book list on food allergies

Andrea Pyros Why did Andrea love this book?

Little kids who are already familiar with Daniel from the beloved Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood animated television series will be drawn to this story, whether or not they themselves have a food allergy. Daniel eats a peach and discovers he’s allergic to the fruit, but with some help from his dad and his awesome doctor, Daniel learns he can take care of himself no matter where he is.  

By Angela C. Santomero, Jason Fruchter (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Daniel Has an Allergy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, 5, and 6.

What is this book about?

A new generation of children love Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, inspired by the classic series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood!

Daniel Tiger learns how to manage a food allergy in this helpful 8x8 storybook based on an episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

When Daniel eats a peach for the first time, he learns that he is allergic to the fruit. Thankfully, Dad and Doctor Anna take care of him. Daniel learns how he can take care of his allergy—even at school! A wonderful story for children with food allergies or for those who know someone with them.

© 2017 The Fred Rogers Company


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in tigers, folklore, and India?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about tigers, folklore, and India.

Tigers Explore 35 books about tigers
Folklore Explore 342 books about folklore
India Explore 446 books about India