Tiger earns his stripes as kids' favourite

The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, until 16 April

Youngsters will love this production of the enduring Judith Kerr classic children's story.

There were shouts and laughter throughout at the adaption, which kept a good pace and a perfect mix of telling the story and audience participation.

It's hardly giving anything away to say that the story revolves around a hungry tiger visiting Sophie and her family. Most of the audience seemed more than familiar with the plot of the story which has been a staple on young bookshelves since the 1970s.

What delights is the way that the story is built up and embellished to make it into an hour-long show.

Everyone knows when the tiger is due on stage, and the build up is quite jolly. When he arrives (I don't know why I assume it's a he, probably because he ate everything and left without offering to help with the washing up), he doesn't disappoint. There's plenty of stage trickery as he empties out the house of food, much to the delight of the infants in the crowd.

The story sings and dances its way to the expected conclusion, leaving the audience well entertained even after the tiger has made good his departure.

This production by David Wood has been doing the rounds for a while - it is the same as one that was in Birmingham a few years ago. But with a new generation arriving to enjoy it, it is well worth taking the kids to.

Just make sure you've got sausages and chips in for tea afterwards.