One of my favorite books when I was a kid was Winnie the Pooh, which was written by A.A. Milne, illustrated by E.H. Shepard, and published in 1926. That’s just one year shy of 100 years as I pen these words. As an author myself, I’m amazed to think about a book that has this sort of longevity.

We are introduced to a host of lovable characters in Winnie the Pooh, including Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, and Roo. Two years later, in 1928, some new characters were introduced in The House at Pooh Corner, including the bouncy and boisterous Tigger. (Heffalumps and Woozles had already been mentioned in dreams in the first book, but they got more attention this time around.)

Tigger was one of my favorite characters. He was bouncy and boisterous, friendly and outgoing, cheerfully overconfident, immensely self-assured, innocently oblivious, and endearingly childlike. O-M-G… It’s like I just described myself! So that's why I liked Tigger so much!

I still remember the song, The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers, which starts as follows:

The Wonderful thing about Tiggers,
Is Tiggers are wonderful things.
Their tops are made out of rubber,
Their bottoms are made out of springs.
They’re bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.
But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers,
Is I'm the only one!

As an aside, this song didn't appear in the books. In fact, it wasn't until 40 years later that it was first sung as part of the Disney animated feature Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, which was released in 1968.

The reason I’m waffling about this here (yes, of course there’s a reason) is that I have a friend (yes, of course I have friends) who just emailed me with a question. My friend spake as follows: “I memorized a poem many years ago. It was called 'The African Tigger is Fading Away' and it started as follows:"

The African tigger is fading away.
He's getting no bigger, the African tigger,
For he's read the figgers, and the figgers all say,
"The common belief that tiggers exist in Africa is false; tiggers exist only on the continent of Asia."
The African tigger is fading away.

My friend went on to say, “I was sure it was by Ogden Nash. It sounds like Ogden Nash's poems, but it's not in my Ogden Nash partial collection, and I can't find it in any of his works. Also, I couldn't find it on the internet, and ChatGPT said it doesn't exist, although it did suggest the following addition, rather elegantly, I thought:”

The African tigger is fading from view.
He packed up his stripes and bid us adieu.
He sighed, “It’s a pity, I quite liked the plains,
But zoological accuracy must take the reins.”
He’s shrinking and blinking and slipping from sight,
A ghostly mirage in the African night.
For he’s not a real tiger, he’s just a mistake—
A fiction from textbooks we really should break.

Sad to relate, I never heard of the original poem (although I’m well-impressed by ChatGPT’s addition). But then I thought of my extensive worldwide network of brilliantly insightful, delightfully curious, and impressively well-read readers (that would be you), and I thought, “Maybe… just maybe…”

So, does this stir any memories, and do you have any information on this poem that you’d care to share with the rest of us?