Girl with a Sabretooth Tiger is a beautifully heartfelt story layered with meaning, wrapped up in high stakes adventure. Set in a unique time period for middle grade historical fiction, it takes readers back 6000 years to prehistoric Britain – pre-London and the Thames in a time we can only imagine. With storytelling, faith, family and self-belief at its heart, the importance of tradition, community and making sacrifices for others shines on every page. This powerful book emphasises our connection to nature, the inspiration of the past and how essential it is that we learn from both.
11-year-old Swallow loves her family – especially her 3-month-old baby sister, Bear, who is ill and struggling to thrive. Inspired by the tales and wisdom of her storyteller grandmother, Swallow wants to find a way to help. With Grandma’s sabretooth tiger tooth necklace to protect her and a spirit tiger to guide her, Swallow sets off on a great journey to find a piece of healing jadeite deep within the green god mountain in the east. So precious and powerful, she knows it will heal Bear. Along the way, Swallow faces almost insurmountable challenges, unknown tribespeople and natural dangers. Clever, resourceful and spiritual, she must draw on everything within herself to survive.
Jasbinder Bilan’s ‘Note from the Author’ provides fascinating insight into her inspiration for this story. When working on a project for the London Museum, she came across a jadeite axe-head. Discovered in the Thames, this sacred object contained a rare stone only found in Mount Viso in the Italian Alps. How did it come to be in Neolithic Britain?
https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/how-neolithic-jade-axe-came-to-mortlake
There are so many aspects to this book that make it essential for Key Stage 2 classrooms. Not only would it support a history topic on prehistoric Britain, but it would also be a beautiful addition to book collections about family, faith, self-belief and adventure. I will definitely be recommending it to teachers and young readers and I’m sure it will be one of my top books of 2026.
Don’t miss these books also by Jasbinder Bilan:
An extract from Asha and the Spirit Bird has been included in Contemporary Fiction for Years 5-6 in my Developing Reading Comprehension Skills series:
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