The Tigerente (literally, tiger duck) is a children’s book character created by the German artist and author Janosch. It is a little wooden toy duck on wheels, striped black on yellow, which is pulled around on a string by various characters of Janosch’s books. It never has a line of dialogue, but still has become by far the most popular figure ever created by the author. The Tigerente has since appeared on a wide range of products including posters, postcards, high school art projects, buttons, mugs, socks, umbrellas, cutlery and nearly every item of children’s furniture imaginable, and has been the namesake and mascot of the German TV show Tigerenten Club, all without ever uttering a single line. In the English translation of the book “The trip to Panama” the Tigerente is actually referred to as ‘tiger duck’.

It’s a story of a Tiger and Bear who live together in a little cottage (the Tigerente is the Tiger’s pet). One day a box with ‘Panama’ written on it arrives and they decide to set off to find this wonderful place. They wander around for a long time having various adventures, and eventually return back at the place they came from, without knowing that it was the place – they think they are in Panama. They find their old hut, which by this point has fallen into disrepair, and decide to do it up and live in it happily. It’s a lovely story.