The Tiger's Eye facts for kids

The Tiger's Eye: A Jungle Fairy Tale is a short story written by L. Frank Baum. He is very famous for creating the magical Land of Oz. This story was not published when he first wrote it. But it became well-known after it was finally printed in 1962.

Baum likely wrote "The Tiger's Eye" in 1905. He planned for it to be the last story in his series called Animal Fairy Tales. The first nine stories from this collection appeared in a popular magazine for women called The Delineator in 1905. However, "The Tiger's Eye" was not included. People think it might have been too scary for young children at the time. Baum had hoped to publish all ten stories together in a book. But this book was not released until 1969, many years after he passed away.

"The Tiger's Eye" was perhaps "too strong" for readers back then. It first appeared in print in 1962 in a special magazine issue about L. Frank Baum. The story was printed again in The Baum Bugle in 1979.

Story Summary: The Tiger's Eye

The story starts in a simple way:

"This is a fairy tale of Pocofo, which is an island of the South Seas, where the people are black and have never heard of telephones or chocolate caramels."

Life on Pocofo Island

Pocofo Island is a challenging place to live. One half is a thick jungle where animals hunt each other for food. The other half is home to human tribes. These tribes sometimes have conflicts with each other or hunt animals. Into this wild setting, a tiger cub is born with only one eye. His parents are sad because they worry he won't survive.

The Magic Eye

To help their baby, the tiger parents visit Nog, who is a Magic-Maker. Nog accidentally reveals that the only way he can give the cub a living eye is to turn himself into one. The tiger parents quickly make Nog agree to do this. Nog is forced to help, but his anger makes the new eye full of bad magic.

With his new eye, the tiger cub becomes very fierce. He attacks and defeats creatures much bigger than himself. Even worse, he breaks a main jungle rule: he kills not just for food but also for the thrill of it. The other animals work together to push the grown tiger out of the jungle. He then moves to the human side of the island. There, he causes similar problems for the villagers.

Titticontoo's Brave Act

Titticontoo is the son of a chief. He is a kind and happy boy, loved by everyone. When the tiger attacks his home, Titticontoo bravely defends his mother. He kills the tiger with his spear. But before the tiger dies, it scratches the boy's face and hurts his left eye.

The Magic-Maker, still in eye form, sees his chance. He pops out of the tiger's head and into Titticontoo's empty eye socket. The magic eye gives the boy his sight back. However, it also turns him into a very fierce warrior. He saves his people from an attacking tribe. But the eye's power changes his personality.

The Eye's Journey Continues

Titticontoo realizes he is becoming a harsh and unkind person. People who used to love him now fear him. Rather than live like this, he bravely pulls the evil eye out of his head. When the bad eye is gone, he becomes his kind self again. His people love and respect him once more.

But the eye is still alive! Titticontoo tries to burn it, but fire does not harm it. He shoots the eye into the jungle with an arrow. The arrow accidentally hits a deer. The deer loses an eye in the accident. Nog, as the eye, moves into the deer. This deer also becomes a fierce hunter, which is very unusual for a deer. While the deer is drinking from a stream, the evil eye jumps into the water. Nog knows that once he has been through fire and water, the magic transformation ends. He returns to his human form.

The father tiger happens to be nearby. He blames Nog for the death of his son. Nog runs towards his safe, enchanted hut, with the tiger close behind. Nog does not make it to safety. The tiger catches him.

Why This Story Is Special

"The Tiger's Eye" is one of Baum's "most powerful" short stories. It is described as a "genuine horror story." Its intense and dark themes make it different from most of Baum's other works.