2/17/2024 0 Comments Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo pdfLike fables do, there are lessons to be learned. The mother’s first born son is named Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo, which (for the story’s purpose only) means “Most Wonderful Thing in the Whole Wide World”, while the younger son has a monosyllabic name that (unjustly) means “little or nothing”. The injustice of this fable is not lost on my own little one. The story is based on an invented Chinese custom whereby children are named in certain ways based on their birth order. Tikki Tikki Tembo, retold by Arlene Mosel and illustrated by Blair Lent, is one of those books. Occasionally it gets a bit predictable and tiresome for the reader, but repetition is a valuable early reading tool, particularly in texts that already have a repetitive structure. Rut actually has a negative connotation, but I don’t really think this sort of nightly repetition is a bad thing. Blair Lent's illustrations are just as amusing and fun.Both my girls often get into reading ruts. Author Arlene Mosel has told it in such a way that the reader really enjoys repeated passages that say things like, "He pumped the water out of him and pushed the air into him, and pumped the water out of him and pushed the air into him". It's just an amusing story told with a great deal of zip and verve. And the last line in the story is a bit odd, but personally I don't feel it will turn your children into raving-mad racists. Yes, we can all agree that the clothing is Japanese while the characters are Chinese. I really don't think there's anything in here to seriously offend someone, unless becoming offended is their goal. Not to my eyes, though I've already admitted that having been read this book while a child, I'm biased towards it. And though their mother does refer to Tikki with such names as "my first and honored son, heir of all I possess", the final shot of the book is Chang seated snugly on his mother's lap as they speak with the bed-ridden Tikki. Yet Chang and Tikki don't engage in any sibling rivalry or bad feelings. I felt bad for Chang, a boy whose name translated roughly to "little or nothing". Hence (according to this tale and, yes yes, not historically accurate in the least), "the Chinese have always thought it wise to give all their children little, short names instead of great long names".When I was read this book as a kid I remember disliking small sections of it (whilst enjoying the entire thing as a whole). In the end Tikki is rescued, though his prolonged well-exposure leaves him sick for a little while. When his mother finally understands, he too is sent to the old man with the ladder and a very similar scene occurs. When Chang attempts to tell his mother what has happened, it's all he can do to spout out that enormous mouthful of a name. Later (not the same day, thankfully) the boys play around the well again and this time it's Tikki who has fallen in. Tikki fetches the old man with the ladder, who rescues the sodden boy. Chang and Tikki love one another, and when Chang falls into the well his brother rushes off to save him. The eldest is considered the more important of the two, and his is the extraordinarily long name. In this book (originally published, I kid you not, in 1968) we learn about the dangers of over-monikering one's own offspring.Two boys live with their mother near an old well. Whew! It's a mouthful, which is of course the point. Tikki Tikki Tembo-No Sa Rembo-Chari Bari Ruchi-Pip Peri Pembo. Come on, everybody! Say it along with me. If you, like my pretty self, grew up reading (or being read) the tale of Tikki Tikki Tembo, then you already know exactly the correct cadences and tones to use when pronouncing his name.
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