Customer Reviews

Tikki Tikki Tembo book & CD set (MacMillan Young Listeners)

5 star:		(123)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Tikki Tikki Tembo is a perpetual favorite read-aloud book in our elementary school library and works well all the way up to third or fourth grade. Today I got it out to read to a first grade class that incidentally had heard it yesterday from their classroom teacher. After I offered to read something else by the same author, they begged me to read Tikki Tikki Tembo to them again. Students love to chant Tikki's long name each time they hear it.

Whether or not this is an authentic Chinese folktale, it is a humorous attention-getter that still has a good moral to it. It does provide an opportunity to point out how Chinese names are usually shorter than Japanese names, something most kids in our school would not be aware of.

What amazes me is that in this age of fancy graphics students still are drawn to these simple illustrations.

A recommended read-aloud!

"Tikki" is over thirty years old, and still going strong. I am a storyteller, and I love to retell the story of the little boy with the outlandishly long name (giving full credit to Arlene Mosel, of course!). Having learned Chinese, and spent some time in China, I do not try to pass it off as an authentic Chinese folktale. Mosel wrote it to have fun, and those of us who read and tell the story must do it in the same vein. Knowing that I am an old man and that my mental faculties may be fading a bit, my granddaughter, upon hearing me tell it for the first time, asked, "Grandpa, how long did it take you to learn to say that name?" I told her several days of practice (not mentioning that a class of first graders could probably do it in two tries!). Three cheers for Arlene Mosel! God willing, the electronic world will not have completely eradicated the printed word, and Tikki Tikki Tembo will be still be around at the turn of the next millenium!

After recently finding a copy of this childhood treasure in my attic, I was reminded of how much I loved having this story read to me as a child.

This book was read to me over 30 years ago. Ironically, I was even able to recite Tikki's entire full name without having to peer inside the book. Talk about lasting impressions!

This is a great classic for parents to read to their young children and there is something very warm and appealing about about the story, and the simple illustrations that will captivate your child's heart.

It's refreshing to see that this enjoyable book is still available and being read to children.

Although some reviewers would have you believe otherwise, this story was not made to mock Asian people.

It may have been created by a westerner, but it is obviously derived from the AUTHENTIC Japanese folktale of Jugemu.

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/cool/03-12/jugemu.html

And of course the premise of the story is absurd! What folktale doesn't have an absurd premise? Do you really believe that Remus & Romulus were raised by wolves? Or that La Llorana stalks the rivers at night looking for her children? Or that people nearly went to war over the color of Esu's hat? Remember the opening of the Tale of Despereaux. Of course its absurd to be a child. Its absurd & wonderful! Let's not sacrifice our children's innocence at the altar of political correctness.

Granted the story has nothing to do with Chinese folk lore. At times it smacks of orientalism. But to suggest a book has no value to anyone of any age smacks of something even worse-totalitarianism

When I was in kindergarten, our teacher played the cassette for our class as she turned the pages of the book...letting us hear the story as it unfolded. It has left a lasting impression, which I will pass to my kids. I have wanted to get a copy of it because I loved the tongue twister name and I'm happy to see Amazon carries it.

I don't believe that it sends any negative messages, like a few reviewers here. The story starts off with the first born son Tikki being all important, while Chang the second son is cast to a side. However, in the end Chang is the hero and both children are important and loved. It is a happy ending. Nowadays, people get too sensitive and caught up with being "PC". This is a children's book meant to entertain and cause a few smiles. It does that and even teaches that everyone is important and makes a difference. Almost 25 years after having this story read to me, it brings a smile to my face and fills me with warm memories of my childhood.

This book will be fun for both the child and reader. The story sticks an important message into the minds of young ones who may be resistant to another approach. In the end when the child grows up he/she will remember the basic story but most of all the fun shared while reading the book. I highly recommend Tikki Tikki Tembo.

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. Come on, everybody! Say it along with me... Tikki Tikki Tembo-No Sa Rembo-Chari Bari Ruchi-Pip Peri Pembo. Whew! It's a mouthful, which is of course the point. 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. The eldest is considered the more important of the two, and his is the extraordinarily long name. His younger brother is named Chang. Chang and Tikki love one another, and when Chang falls into the well his brother rushes off to save him. Tikki fetches the old man with the ladder, who rescues the sodden boy. Later (not the same day, thankfully) the boys play around the well again and this time it's Tikki who has fallen in. 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. When his mother finally understands, he too is sent to the old man with the ladder and a very similar scene occurs. In the end Tikki is rescued, though his prolonged well-exposure leaves him sick for a little while. 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). I felt bad for Chang, a boy whose name translated roughly to "little or nothing". Yet Chang and Tikki don't engage in any sibling rivalry or bad feelings. They play together as happily as can be. 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. So is the book racist? I dunno. Not to my eyes, though I've already admitted that having been read this book while a child, I'm biased towards it. I really don't think there's anything in here to seriously offend someone, unless becoming offended is their goal. Yes, we can all agree that the clothing is Japanese while the characters are Chinese. Confusing, certainly. 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. It's just an amusing story told with a great deal of zip and verve. 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". Blair Lent's illustrations are just as amusing and fun. Though a book of limited colors, it almost seems to the reader as if there are millions of subtle variations on the blues and greens shown throughout the story.

The fact of the matter is, this is just a great book. Top drawer. If you've an ability to tell a tale well, then it is a crime and shame that you are not reading this book to a little one right now. For as long as children enjoy hearing rhymes and syncopated rhythms, this book will remain a popular item.

I wore this book out 35 years ago, read it over and over to my sister 25 years ago, and now read it to my two sons. It is filled with the fun of repetitive sounds and rhythm, the funky color pallette of the late 60's/early 70's, and tells an solid story. Many have mentioned the importance of not revering one sibling over another, but as a child, I remembered thinking, "wow, even adults make mistakes." Though I have to admit, I was a bit pleased that smug first born got his come-uppance...!

The idea that it is or is not authentic Chinese is not an issue with me. I don't look to it for cultural authority, just fun reading that my kids love again and again... It's an experience that is passed down through OUR culture. Just being able to repeat it aloud for friends is a heck of a lot of fun.

I had this book as a child and loved it. Even as an adult I remembered the rhythm of, "Tiki Tiki Tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo". So I bought it for my two boys, forgetting the whole story.

The general story is that second sons were regarded as worthless and thus given short names. The first born sons were practically royal in the family and given great longs names. This becomes problematic when the boys don't mind their mother and each have a turn at falling into the well and need to be rescued by the old man with the ladder. If the story left it at that it wouldn't be much, but throughout the story the mother is less adoring of her second son and more impatient with him. Having two boys, the youngest only 2, I don't like to read it to them very often. But they love the story too. It IS well written and lends itself to great dramatization by the reader.

My husband thinks I am over sensitive, perhaps you will too, but that is what I think. Something to consider if you have two boys. I would otherwise give this book 5 stars.

I loved this book as a child, my sister and I would go around saying the tongue twister name over and over! We would try and out do each other by who could say it the fastest. Now she is adopting a beautiful daughter from China and I thought this is the perfect book for my new neice. She will be able to enjoy this fun story of two brothers who not only play well together but help each other when one is in trouble, like falling into a well. It teaches children that even if they are not the first born they are just as special.

This is a great book. The honored brother gets a grand name and ends up suffering for it. The ignored brother gets a meaningless name , but doesn't suffer and even is heroic. Plus you get to say a funny name over and over.That what kids will enjoy and that's what I remembered 35 years later. As far as historical accuracy or sibling rivalry or even racial stereotypes who cares. If this book causes your child to think in any of those ways you have a lot bigger problems than a politically incorrect book. You would have to throw out all classic childrens books, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and also most disney movies to avoid any unpleasant reminders of the real world. Kids see through that stuff and get right to the guts of a story, only adults worry over or glorify the bad parts. Bottom line it's a fun book .