Tikki Tikki Tembo - Folklore

In Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel and illustrated by Blair Lent, it is a folklore that tells a story of a reasoning behind short names in the Chinese culture. 

The main character is Tikki tikki tembo nosa rembo chari bari ruchi pip pen pembo, which means "the most wonderful boy in the whole world".  In China is was a custom to name the firstborn son a very long name. One day the older brother Tikki Tikki Tembo and his younger brother Chang were playing near a well that their mother warned them about, the younger brother fell in and had to be rescued.  Then sometime later both brothers were playing near the same spot and Tikki Tikki tembo fell in. So Chang runs to get help from his mother and because he was out of breath from running, and his brother's name was so long his mother could not hear him. So finally an old man helps saves Tikki Tikki Tembo, but by the end of the story, it states why the Chinese have short names. 

This story is filled acrylic illustrations with vibrant colors. The style of this art is folk art, the Chinese culture is represented in different parts of the illustrations. Blair Lent drew every character to represent someone or something from the Chinese culture. From the drawing of the old man with his long beard to each kimono that each character wore to the background filled with bamboo trees. There was representation throughout the book.

Activities for the classroom:

1. One activity will be a sequencing activity, students will put all of the important events in the story from beginning to end.

2. Another activity would be for the students to write an alternate ending to the story, what would have happened if the old man would not have heard Chang?

Reader's Response Question:

-Why did Tikki Tikki Tembo have such a long name?

-What happened when Tikki Tikki Tembo fell in the well?

-Why couldn't the old man or his mom hear Chang?

- At the end of the story, what kind of names did the Chinese give their children?

Galda, L., Cullinan, B., & Sipe, L. (2010). Literature and the Child (7 ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Mosel, A., Lent, B., & Harden, M. G. (2012). Tikki Tikki Tembo. New York: Square Fish/Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.