Tikki Tikki Tembo — Arlene Mosel

This humorous retelling of a favorite folktale recounts how the Chinese came to give their children short names. Beautifully illustrated, this perfect read-aloud storybook is one adults and children will enjoy sharing together again and again. When the eldest son fell in the well and most of the time getting help was spent pronouncing the name of the one in trouble, the Chinese, according to legend, decided to give all their children short names.

Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo is the name of a mother's first, and most honored, son. It means, "the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world!"