#89 Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel, ill. by Blair Lent (1968)
22 points
Silly and repetitive with lots of action. A fun book to read aloud. – Barbara Thompson
Down from #35! Last time we had the poll Tikki was flying high. Now it has sunk more than 50 places on the list. Could this have anything to do with the controversy that surrounds it? I consider old Tikki to be one of the lesser controversial picture books (it ain’t got nuthin’ on The Five Chinese Brothers), but it’s still there and it still rages, albeit at a low ebb.
The Amazon summary of the plot reads, “Arlene Mosel retells an old Chinese folktale about how the people of China came to give their children short names after traditionally giving their ‘first and honored’ sons grand, long names. Tikki tikki tembo (which means ‘the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world’) and his brother Chang (which means ‘little or nothing’) get into trouble with a well, are saved by the Old Man with the Ladder, and change history while they’re at it.”
So what’s the controversy? Well, first things first. The book is essentially an answer to that age old question, “Why do Chinese people have short names?” The answer: Because a boy with a long name almost drowned. Yet while the story takes place in China, the people in the book appear to be Japanese. At a recent Literary Salon in my library I was told by a folklorist that there is indeed a folktale out there about a boy with a very long, very catchy name. However, the story originated in Japan, not China. Think how easy it would have been for Mosel to simply say that in the first place! For a fascinating look at this book (not to mention additional thoughts on cultural accuracy in fairy and folktales in general) fairrosa posted a child_lit discussion that concentrated on this book from back in 1998. It’s a great thread.
It remains beloved in spite of all this. I noted with some interest that when I tried to find background information on the book, Tikki Tikki Tembo wasn’t listed in Cullinan and Galda’s Literature and the Child (5th edition), 100 Best Books for Children, or Nancy Pearl’s Book Crush even once! For titles that discuss popular picture books, this is a bit of a noticeable lack.
For my part, I’ve always had a hard time keeping the name “Tikki Tikki Tembo” separate in my brain from “Rikki Tikki Tavi”. I can, however, say Tikki Tikki Tembo’s name by heart. I suspect there are many kids out there that can too.
Read the book here if you like to see it yourself. Or you could just watch the Weston Woods adaptation of it, if you prefer:
Publishers Weekly said of it (hoo boy), “Beautifully expressive drawings enhance the book’s Oriental feel.”
By: Betsy Bird,
on 4/16/2012
Blog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Durn. This is what I get for not doing a Fusenews in a while. A whole plethora of good stuff! Let’s see what we can use up in a single day, eh?
For the record, if you haven’t read these Hunger Games comics (in the style of Kate Beaton, no?) then now’s the time. They’re surprisingly good.
Good old poetry month. From spine poems to 30 Poets / 30 Days the celebrations are magnificent. Go ye, seek out and find.
- I won’t normally link to podcasts but this recent Scriptnotes that covers how a screenwriter options a novel he wants to adapt includes a discussion of older children’s books that were considered for screen adaptation. FYI!
- On the one hand they’re 9 Barbies Based on Books. On the other hand, if that Edward doesn’t sparkle and glow in the dark then I hope the people who purchased him got their money back. Thanks to bookshelves of doom for the link.
- When I worked the reference desk I got a lot of Stumpers. Folks would ask me to come up with a beloved book from their childhood and I would try to figure it out. If I couldn’t find it I’d take down all their information and ask PUBYAC on their behalf. If that didn’t work I’d suggest Loganberry Books, even though they charge money. Would that I had known about Whatsthatbook.com. A free site where folks post their stumpers and other folks answer them, it’s pretty cool. Sometimes I just like hearing the wacky descriptions. Current favorite: “Young girl reading to an older lady, girl almost gets caught in quicksand”. I hate it when that happens.
- Hello, under-a-rock denizens. J.K. Rowling’s newest book is going to be released. Hope you like community politics!!!
- Feel discomfort about Tikki Tikki Tembo? You’re not alone.
- Do Childish People Write Better Children’s Books? Dude, if you want to walk up to Maurice Sendak and inform him that he is childish, be my guest. I’m just gonna go hide behind this sturdy concrete pillar over here until the spatter of your remains stops with the spattering.
- Stealing books from publishers is nothing new, but there’s something particularly slimy about doing it during the Bologna Book Fair
6 Comments on Fusenews: Gleep!, last added: 4/19/2012Display Comments Add a Comment
One more site for lost books is abebooks.com…..they have a “booksleuth” section that works pretty much like whatsthatbook…it’s free too!
A little story about that Santorum book…
The year: 2002. My good friend (and old college roommate) Sam was doing all the design, layout, and illustrations for Karen Santorum’s book “Everyday Graces.” The book is intended to be similar to The Book of Virtues, but organized around manners. So it’s a collection of stories… a chapter from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe leads into a short commentary about table manners. A chapter from Winnie the Pooh leads into a little discussion about the art of invitation writing. It’s all selections from classic stories like Frog and Toad, Little Women, and The Secret Garden.
At the time, I am simply a graphic designer, but my friend Sam knows I’d love to write children’s books. So he tells me that since he’s putting the book together, he can slip in one of my stories. I send him a little nonsense story I’d written, and he even works up an illustration for it. So in the end, “Everyday Graces” contains 180 previously published works by folks like Robert Louis Stevenson, LM Montgomery, Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter… and a single, solitary original work by Aaron Zenz – snuck in at the last minute by his old college roommate.
My first published writing.
My mom has a Holly Golightly Barbie. Does it count if the Barbie is obviously based on movie-Holly rather than book-Holly?
http://i2.listal.com/image/2956694/400full.jpg
Get. Out. Of. Town.
@Aaron–dude, that’s hilarious.
I know I am a little behind in reading your posting but there was the long flight from London to SF and that awful thing called jet lag but I wanted to tell you I have a Curious George Barbie complete with George himself, though he is quite small. My first (and only) Barbie. And I met the real Barbie gal about 38 yrs ago when I worked for Mattel toy co. Didn’t get a Barbie then (or want one) until about 25 years later when I found C. G. Barbie. I might be a little old for dolls, but for George I made an exception.