I
most certainly do! I absolutely loved (and still do) Tikki Tikki Tembo
Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo
The story takes place in ancient China where they use to name their firstborn with a long name that everyone had to say. Nicknames were not heard of. Second born sons were given a shorter, unimportant name. So, a young boy named Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo (meaning, “The Most Wonderful Thing in the Whole Wide World”) and his little brother Chang (meaning “Little or Nothing”) were playing near a well they were instructed NOT to play by. Chang falls in the well, his older brother runs to their mother, tells her Chang has fallen down the well, and Chang is rescrued. Late, the boys are playing by the well again and the oldest boy falls in. Chang runs to their mother and shouts that “Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo has fallen into the well”, but she can’t hear him, even though he repeats it numerous times. He then runs to the Old Man with the Ladder and uses his ladder to get Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo out of the well just in time. So, this is the story of how short names are given to Chinese boys.
I still have fun reading this to my kids, and I imagine in time, to my grandchildren as well.
What is your favorite childhood story?
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