"Tikki Tikki Tembo" written by Arlene Mosel is a tongue twisting, funny multi-cultural book. This book is centered around a little boy with a very long name. Tikki Tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo, which meant the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world, was the name of a woman's first-born son. The second son's name was very short, and meant little or nothing. One day the second born fell into the well. His brother ran to their mother for help. An old man with a ladder helps Chang out. Later in the story Tikki Tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo falls into the well. His brother runs for help, but since his name is so long it takes a long while before he is recovered from the well. From them on the Chinese people have to decided to give their children short names instead of great long names. I really enjoyed this book and so did some of the students in my class. I believe that this book could be used at any grade level. The book is funny, but also has a main purpose to it, which is to explain why Chinese names are so short.
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