Tikki Tikki Tembo

Tikki Tikki Tembo is geared toward children ranging from kindergarten through grade 2 and was originally written by Arlene Mosel in 1968.

This award winning story is an example of Asian folklore.  The story is about a woman and her two young sons, one of which has a short name and the other an extremely long name.  The brother with the long name fell into the well.  It took quite some time to get him out.  It is because of this story that Chinese people now name their children short names.  

This book would serve as an excellent tool that could be used by both teachers and parents/guardians to teach children at a young age about the Asian culture through the use of a picture book of folklore. This book employs the use of rhyming and repetition so would allow the child to easily create a connection to the story. This author also wrote The Funny Little Woman. 

As an example of multicultural folklore, this books offers young children an opportunity to experience a story from another country.  It is also most probable that this story takes place in ancient China as opposed to present day China.  The illustrations utilize lines outlines, and muted colors to assist in portraying the story. 

Motivational Activities:

1. Students can do a "repeat after me" activity with Tikki Tikki Tembo's long name.

2. Students can create a rhyme using their own name.

Reader Response Questions:

1. What type of well was being referred to in the story?

2. What do the sons names mean?

3. What character in the story helped to save the boy?

Mosel, A. (2007)  Tikki Tikki Tembo New York, Square Fish Publishing

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