When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller - Novel Study

This 25-page novel study for When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller invites middle grade readers into a Newbery Medal winner where Korean folktales, family grief, and one very large tiger all occupy the same ordinary small town.

Built for grades 4–7, this resource gives you everything you need to lead discussions that go somewhere real, unpack how Keller blends folktale with realism, and get students writing.

Includes:

• Summary and noteworthy facts
• Discussion questions that ask students to take a position, not just recall
• Essay and short answer questions
• Book-specific tips for adults sharing When You Trap a Tiger with learners
• Story structure basics with fill-in-the-blank sheets
• Literary devices—magical realism, story within a story, symbolism, and more—with definitions, practice, and an answer key
• Sixteen creative activities, including:
  • Tell It Back—retell the folktale the way Sam remembers it
  • What's in the Jar—write the story Halmoni sealed away
  • The Family Folktale—turn a real family story into a legend
  • Halmoni's Voice—how Keller writes her grandmother's English, and what "correcting" it would cost
  • Trap Blueprint—design the basement trap from the text
  • Being Seen—a reflection on the roles we get handed
  • Tiger, Drawn Three Ways
  …plus Setting the Table, Two Truths at Once, Going Viral, Text Me Back, Change the Genre, two advice columns, and more!

Students come away thinking about the stories families tell, the ones they bury, and what it costs to finally speak up.

Please note: Book text is not included—please find When You Trap a Tiger at your local library or bookstore.

When You Trap a Tiger is written by Tae Keller and published by Random House Books for Young Readers.