Tikki Tikki Tembo retold by Arlene Mosel (1968) left me confused, maybe because it is “retold” by Mosel. I always wonder what’s been lost and distorted in a retelling. Two brothers each take a turn falling into the well that we see on the front cover. A man with a ladder, also on the cover, saves each sibling. This story seems to be about the mother’s adherence to a cultural norm and how it more severely impacts one of her sons. The first born receives a very lengthy name at the beginning of the story, but this tradition changes at the end of the story. Blair Lent’s illustrations have a limited palette that may reflect the printing processes more than 50 years ago. They picture the tale well enough. What would life be like if other well established traditions were this quick to change?
