Folklore (Folktale)

 

Summary of the book:

The Book Tikki Tikki Tembo is about a little boy who is the first-born son in his family. At the time, the Chinese custom was to give the first-born son a long name and the second son a short name. The first-born son's name was not allowed to be shortened; Tikki Tikki Tembo's full name was Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-Chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo which meant The Most Wonderful Thing in the Whole Wide World. The Second born son's name was Chang which meant little or nothing. Every morning the mother went to a little stream to wash and warned the boys not to go near the well; one could fall in. One day Chang was playing on the well and fell in. Tikki Tikki Tembo ran to tell his mother that Chang had fallen into the well. Tikki Tikki Tembo's mother told him to get the older man with the ladder. Tikki Tikki Tembo went to get the older man with the ladder, and he went down and pulled Chang out. Chang had a fast recovery and was fine in no time. Some time passed, and the boys were by the well again, and this time, Tikki Tikki Tembo was playing on the well and fell in. Chang ran to tell his mother; however, his mother could not understand him; Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-Chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri fell into the well, repeatedly Chang told his mother. Finally, his mother understood Chang, and he sent him to get the older man with the ladder. Chang ran to get the older man. The older man was resting, and it took some time to wake him up. Once up, he ran to Tikki Tikki Tembo in the well and went down to get him out. Because Tikkie Tikki Tembo was down in the well for so long, he took longer to heal. From that day on, the Chinese custom was changed; they now give their children little short names.

Evaluate Genre/ Illustrations:

Tikki Tikki Tembo is a folktale; it talks about Chinese cultural customs and how they changed the custom practice of long names for their first-born son to short terms based on the tale of Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-Chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri. Tikki Tikki Tembo's story meets the quality checklist for folklore. Cultural integrity is represented in the story; the use of the first-born son's name was shortened by the little brother when he was trying to get help from the mother, and the mother corrected the son and demanded he use his brother's full name. The Folktale follows a narrative form story structure with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The illustration of the book supports the chinses culture with the characters dressed in clothing that represent the culture, such as the straw hat the older man wore and the old man and mother characters wearing hanfus. The landscape of the pictures represents Chinese culture houses' roofs may be made out of clay bricks. Bright colors were used throughout the book on the birds, flowers, and butterflies. The illustrator enhanced the story's text by having illustrations that displayed in great detail. The illustrations played out the text of the story. The illustrator of Tikki Tikki Tembo was Blair Lent; the book won a 1968 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in the Picture Book category (Wikimedia Foundation, 2023). 

Motivational Activities:

A motivational activity that could be used in the classroom would be to have the students reenact the Folktale. Break the students up into groups to put together the story. The students can use their creativity to add dramatic effects to their storytelling. 

After reading the book, have students break down the story's beginning, middle, and end. Make a list of what happens in all parts of the story for the students to visually see how the Folktale is broken down into three parts. Have an open discussion when talking about each part with the class.

Personal comments/ Author background information:

The Folktale Tikki Tikki Tembo allows students to discover recurring patterns and understand the framework when viewing literature. Students can read this Folktale out loud and use their creativity to add dramatic effects to the reading. Tikki Tikki Tembo is straightforward; it echoes spoken language with a natural rhythm. During research, I read that the story may have originated from a Japanese folktale instead of a Chinese folktale. The illustration in the story reflects the text of what's being told. The color patterns and use of culture-related realism give the reader a glimpse of how the culture visually appears. The author of the Folktale was Arlene Mosel. Tikki Tikki Tembo was written in 1968 and was recognized with the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award the same year (Wikimedia Foundation, 2023). Mosel also wrote The Funny Little Woman, which won the Caldecott Medal for its illustrations and the Honor Book for the Globe-Horn Book award in 1974 (Wikimedia Foundation, 2023).

 

References

Mosel, A., & Lent, B. (1968). Tikki Tikki Tembo. Scholastic.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2023c, July 21). Arlene Mosel. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlene_Mosel

Wikimedia Foundation. (2023d, July 27). Tikki Tikki Tembo. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikki_Tikki_Tembo