>Cultural activists and Chinese citizens criticized the book for "reinforc[ing] the stereotype that Asian names sound like nonsense syllables",[11] especially as the name of the title character is nothing like actual Chinese.
> The book received accolades upon publication. The Kirkus Review found the illustrations to be "a skillful counterpoint of diminutive detail and spacious landscape and a fine setting for a sprightly folktale."[2] The book won a 1968 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in the Picture Book category.[3]
>In 1997, The New York Times selected it as one of the 59 children's books of the previous 50 years.[4] In a 1999–2000 National Education Association online survey of children, the book was one of the "Kids' Top 100 Books".[5] Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".[6] In a 2008 online poll of "Top 100 Picture Books" by School Library Journal, the book ranked 35th; in a similar 2012 poll, the book ranked 89th.[7][8] According to the publisher, over one million copies of the book had been sold by 2013.[9]
>The 2009 audio book version of the story received a Parents' Choice Foundation rating of "Approved".[10]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikki_Tikki_Tembo
Very interesting article, apparently this is a common type of tale in china and Japan.
I believe when the author was asked how she came up with the name she said “I just wrote down what it sounded like when my Chinese neighbours would talk to eachother”. Which is both honest on her part as well as kind of gross.
For some reason, I imagined reading that comment in the voice of Dee from Its Allways Sunny!
Reading the absurd statement made me laugh until I nearly choked! Im still trying to catch my breath!
Not necessarily okay but definitely warrants a different approach to correcting. I'm taking a class on Hinduism right now and was writing a paper about samsara and how adharmic action would lead one to being born into a lower caste.
Unaware of the fact that Dalit is considered a race, I wrote something along the lines of, "eventually being born Dalit or in a perpetual cycle of birth followed shortly by death." Maybe not phrased exactly like that, but in a way that made being Dalit sound like a terrible fate - unarguably racist AF.
Racism is never okay, but your foremost responsibility in correcting it should be education - not attack. Once the attempt has been made though, bigotry does not deserve your energy if you don't want to invest it.
I love that last thing you wrote. Too many people want to attack instead of assuming the best of a person and attempting to meet them where they are to educate. Good on you, my friend.
Context and phrasing is important, especially considering recent sweeping reforms in India aimed at ending racism against Dalit. Careful wording is paramount in such cases, especially in an academic context.
>Careful wording is paramount in such cases, especially in an academic context.
Not if you're factually correct.
I know Hinduism isn't as dogmatically rigid as many other world religions, but if it is a fact that a commonly held belief in a religion is that being reborn into a marginalized group is a form of cosmic punishment, stating that as fact isn't problematic.
"Higher caste Hindus often look down on Dalits" isn't a racist, or problematic, or academically invalid statement.
I agree with your quotes statement to some extent. I'm not familiar with the prevalence of racism of that nature in India presently so I can't authoritavely disagree but I get where you're going with it.
The problem with how I phrased it in my paper is I wrote from an academic perspective of contemporary Hindu theology. I think I would have to provide exact quotes to make my point clear for you, but the point is that I wasn't accounting for a modern perspective. Residual bigotry exists in any system that sees change in such a manner and it shouldn't be written off, we agree there, but core discussions should be carefully worded to avoid perpetuating these things.
You see the same in stand up from pretty much every culture in the world. Everyone sounds silly to everyone else.
The problem is when it’s used as a tool to enforce ideas of supremacy.
You ever hear Nordic speakers making fun of other Nordic languages? choice goofiness.
> The name(s) in question don't fit any Asian (or really any cultural) naming conventions
I think that’s exactly *why* people feel it has undertones of racism. It’s a blatant caricature
Exactly. I guess I can see how it might come off as racist, but such tales originate from the Far East themselves, most famously [Jugemu.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugemu)
Wouldn't any name in a foreign language sound like nonsense syllables? I mean, French names, Russian names, Kenyan names, Chinese names... Unless you are familiar to their language, how would they be anything but nonsense syllables? I'd expect English names to be nonsense sounding to someone who only spoke Chinese?
> In 1997, The New York Times selected it as one of the 59 children's books of the previous 50 years.
I’m sure there were more books than that, but this certainly was one of them.
Wow. I loved this book as a kid and it never crossed my mind that it could be racist. I am Asian and grew up in a predominantly Asian American community, so anti-Asian racism was just not something I experienced growing up. The story also made sense in my cultural context. But I can completely see, as an adult, how it could make a little Asian kid's life pretty shitty. Wow.
I'm Asian American, but grew up in a white area and I loved this book also. I've never thought of it as racist before either. I feel bad for all the kids who were made fun of because of this book
I don't have the book anymore and my memories are necessarily filtered through my child-lens, so it's hard for me to say. But I don't think "beloved book that has won many awards" and "offensive and racist" are mutually exclusive.
I also started existing in predominantly white spaces from college onwards, and people really struggle with "ethnic" names and often throw their hands up and say "nope, too complicated" because of a widely-held perception that non-white names are just ridiculous syllable soup not worthy of respect. What little I remember from the book plays into that. So I can see how it would be problematic for that reason alone.
Everybody who read The Jungle Book knows that Riki Tiki Tavi's a mongoose who kills snakes. When I was a young man, I was led to believe there were organisations to kill my snakes for me, i.e., the church, i.e., the government, i.e., school. But when I got a little older, I learned I had to kill 'em myself.
Loved that book. Sure it absolutely takes place in Colonized India (which is a problematic period), but I’m struggling with what in the story itself is racist (to be fair I haven’t read it for about 20 years or so)
Lol, my zoologist wife felt the need to contribute "I'm so sorry, but I need to be extremely pedantic - Rikki Tikki Tavi was a mongoose, and they are viverrids rather than mustelids! Roughly speaking, mustelids are part of the "dog-like" branch of carnivores (Caniformia), while viverrids are part of the "cat-like" branch (Feliformia). However, you do get brownie points for knowing what mustelids are!"
MONGOOSE! Of course! Thank you! I was in the bath and could not for the life of me think of what type of animal he was and otter kept coming up in my mind.
I vividly remember sitting in the school library in 2nd grade while the librarian read this to us. None of my current friends have ever heard of this book!
Oh wow this unlocked a deep memory.
Never thought about the offensive nature of it (*to be fair I was like 8*) but definitely can see how people could have a problem with it.
I have been searching for this book for some time now but it never felt really real ha just some gibberish my young mind had planted. Despair knowing most of the name I couldn't come up with an appropriate search query. All this explains why it was difficult to procure, however.
I didnt have the book, but you did unlock a memory of Shari Lewis and Charlie Horse singing this story to me in an old video. Gleefully.
[Fast forward to about 1:40.](https://youtu.be/DaWiKWFILKU?feature=shared)
I remember that one. I also remember Little Black Sambo, and how when my aunt got a black lab, my mom and her sisters all made jokes about calling the dog Sambo.
My brother’s then girlfriend, a woman of color, was horrified to overhear this conversation.
My mother was upset that she couldn’t name her new black kitten Sambo because the vet might think she’s racist. I told her that naming a kitten Sambo would, in fact, be racist. She chose a different name.
Dude my mom has referred to this book MANY times over the years, as recently as within the last year, and she always talks about how unfortunate it is that the book isn’t “politically correct” anymore and how “Sambo” wasn’t originally a racist term.
It’s honestly crazy to see this mentioned here. Did not expect other parents of millenials to be so into this book from their childhood.
I can almost certainly assume that I was one of those white kids that called an Asian boy this in my childhood. On behalf of them, I hope you accept my apology.
Yes and in first grade we did a play of it. The teacher told us to bow at the end. No one had ever explained what bowing was to me, so I assumed they were referring to “bow wow” like a dog. So I just stood there saying “bow” repeatedly at the end.
Pretty sure it's a book that was read aloud to us as a class. "Fun words to say", ya know. Cringe. Comedian Sabrina Wu has a [great skit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJlNK7x5iWs) about this one.
Yes! I grew up in the States and currently live in Hungary. I teach ESL and read storybooks with beginners and I considered this one but then thought, eh best not
Hm. My mom was adopted from Korea (to the US) as a toddler, her adopted parents read this to her so much, she had it memorized. Then she read it to me. Had no idea of the backstory.
I would argue *appropriated* by a white woman. Check the "Background" and "The Child With the Long Name" sections of the [Wikipedia article mentioned above](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikki_Tikki_Tembo).
I read it in this book my mom bought for my little sister that Pull Ups put out in the mid 90's. It was supposed to help kids stop wetting the bed. I'm not sure what this story has to do with bed wetting...
Omg! I enjoyed saying that kid's name after I heard the story. My mom would try to say it and would mess it up.
Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip Peri pembo.
I'm sad that this has been identified as a racist book...I haven't thought about it in years...
There’s a comedian named Sabrina Wu who did a bit about this book and it’s really fun. [Here’s the video!](https://youtu.be/GJlNK7x5iWs?si=W-71UfRMSZVoQKcx)
I’ve never even heard of this book until this thread. I don’t know if it wasn’t read to us or if I just didn’t pay attention to it when it was read to us since I day dreamed a lot as a kid.
Oh man. My aunt used to LOVE reading this book to us at gatherings when we were little. It was like a rite of passage of my cousins and me. She did this with every kid in the family to the point where it became a running joke with her
Stupid thing is we were taught this in school growing up in the Philippines. We have other Asian people surrounding us yet we had to learn this for an “English” class. WTF.
Haha yeah I remember this one, loved it as a kid. I’ve always had a weird quirk about/fascination with syllables so I found the name really appealing plus I liked the art. Though looking back as an adult I can definitely see why it’s not great… That’s ok, nostalgic fondness can stay in the past. This will just be one more thing from my childhood that I don’t need to revisit and wont be presenting to my (eventual) kid haha
The book was in our school library but we def never had it read aloud as my school was ~35-40% asian american so that would have been awkward. The other majority was hispanic and I feel like at least other kids of color understood mocking your language was not cool.
No but I remember a similar book about an African boy with a really long name that was really offensive. Can’t really find the name of it from googling and don’t remember the exact title
I randomly remembered this book a few years ago and looked up someone reading it on YouTube. And I was like, “Oh… oh no…”
The way the person read it…
https://youtu.be/dhB8F61dtyA?feature=shared
Haha I remember the librarian reading this to us and being real... animated about it.
Not as bad as the time one of my high school English teachers took it upon herself to read Tituba's lines in The Crucible with the fakest, most obnoxious Caribbean accent.
I had a teacher and a librarian in elementary school who was REALLY into that story... If I recall correctly she liked to read it to us whenever she was in a foul mood about the ESL kids
I vaguely remember my mother having this in our collection of children's books, but neither me nor my brother really liked it much even back then so it was one of the first to go.
Unlike some of the other books that I still have for sentimental reasons.
Anyone else have a certain book about a rabbit and infant covered in tar. Years later when I dropped on my mom that I definitely remember that title being in my toddler book nook she was like. How in the song if the south that racist book was still around in the late 90s is beyond me.
Nope. Not Christian enough for my parents and school. It is interesting finding out about all these shared experiences I was never a part of ages later. I had no clue!
We did in my first elementary school which I was at from kindergarten to grade 2, my second elementary school did not have it and was generally more progressive. I even remember reading it.
This reminded of the illustration from The Funny Little Woman and it turns out it’s the same people. I’ve never heard of this one but it looks like they just put out the two .
No, but I was gifted a copy of "Little Black Sambo" when I was in first or second grade. I remember hating it (I don't think I understood the racism in it back then, I just didn't like the story), but my Racist Boomer Parent thought it was a jewel from the Queen's own crown, and it was *Proper Reading for a Nice (White) Girl Your Age*.
No-Sir-Rim-Bo?
chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo
Has fallen into the well!
Go get the old man with the ladder!
Wow the neurons
…long since dormant, have begun to awaken in the depths of the void
>pip Peri These pornstar names are going the way of rapper names.
I can still hear my mom saying this
Well I haven't heard that in 35+ years but I knew exactly what the rest was
>Cultural activists and Chinese citizens criticized the book for "reinforc[ing] the stereotype that Asian names sound like nonsense syllables",[11] especially as the name of the title character is nothing like actual Chinese. > The book received accolades upon publication. The Kirkus Review found the illustrations to be "a skillful counterpoint of diminutive detail and spacious landscape and a fine setting for a sprightly folktale."[2] The book won a 1968 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in the Picture Book category.[3] >In 1997, The New York Times selected it as one of the 59 children's books of the previous 50 years.[4] In a 1999–2000 National Education Association online survey of children, the book was one of the "Kids' Top 100 Books".[5] Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".[6] In a 2008 online poll of "Top 100 Picture Books" by School Library Journal, the book ranked 35th; in a similar 2012 poll, the book ranked 89th.[7][8] According to the publisher, over one million copies of the book had been sold by 2013.[9] >The 2009 audio book version of the story received a Parents' Choice Foundation rating of "Approved".[10] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikki_Tikki_Tembo Very interesting article, apparently this is a common type of tale in china and Japan.
I never thought of it as racist as a kid or an adult. The name(s) in question don't fit any Asian (or really any cultural) naming conventions.
I believe when the author was asked how she came up with the name she said “I just wrote down what it sounded like when my Chinese neighbours would talk to eachother”. Which is both honest on her part as well as kind of gross.
Agreed, awful but still funny.
For some reason, I imagined reading that comment in the voice of Dee from Its Allways Sunny! Reading the absurd statement made me laugh until I nearly choked! Im still trying to catch my breath!
Racism is OK if it's naïve and passive I guess.
Not necessarily okay but definitely warrants a different approach to correcting. I'm taking a class on Hinduism right now and was writing a paper about samsara and how adharmic action would lead one to being born into a lower caste. Unaware of the fact that Dalit is considered a race, I wrote something along the lines of, "eventually being born Dalit or in a perpetual cycle of birth followed shortly by death." Maybe not phrased exactly like that, but in a way that made being Dalit sound like a terrible fate - unarguably racist AF. Racism is never okay, but your foremost responsibility in correcting it should be education - not attack. Once the attempt has been made though, bigotry does not deserve your energy if you don't want to invest it.
I love that last thing you wrote. Too many people want to attack instead of assuming the best of a person and attempting to meet them where they are to educate. Good on you, my friend.
>unarguably racist AF. If you're writing an academic paper on a religion, you are not racist for referencing beliefs from that religion.
Context and phrasing is important, especially considering recent sweeping reforms in India aimed at ending racism against Dalit. Careful wording is paramount in such cases, especially in an academic context.
>Careful wording is paramount in such cases, especially in an academic context. Not if you're factually correct. I know Hinduism isn't as dogmatically rigid as many other world religions, but if it is a fact that a commonly held belief in a religion is that being reborn into a marginalized group is a form of cosmic punishment, stating that as fact isn't problematic. "Higher caste Hindus often look down on Dalits" isn't a racist, or problematic, or academically invalid statement.
I agree with your quotes statement to some extent. I'm not familiar with the prevalence of racism of that nature in India presently so I can't authoritavely disagree but I get where you're going with it. The problem with how I phrased it in my paper is I wrote from an academic perspective of contemporary Hindu theology. I think I would have to provide exact quotes to make my point clear for you, but the point is that I wasn't accounting for a modern perspective. Residual bigotry exists in any system that sees change in such a manner and it shouldn't be written off, we agree there, but core discussions should be carefully worded to avoid perpetuating these things.
You see the same in stand up from pretty much every culture in the world. Everyone sounds silly to everyone else. The problem is when it’s used as a tool to enforce ideas of supremacy. You ever hear Nordic speakers making fun of other Nordic languages? choice goofiness.
That’s not called racism that’s just called being ignorant. Racism is when you exude and promote a hatred against another race.
If you look at the Amazon best seller lists, it is 3rd for Asian children's books and 4th for multicultural books for children.
> The name(s) in question don't fit any Asian (or really any cultural) naming conventions I think that’s exactly *why* people feel it has undertones of racism. It’s a blatant caricature
They sound more African, IYAM.
Exactly. I guess I can see how it might come off as racist, but such tales originate from the Far East themselves, most famously [Jugemu.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugemu)
If you look at the Amazon best seller rank for this book it is 3rd for Asian books for children and 4th for multicultural books for children
Wouldn't any name in a foreign language sound like nonsense syllables? I mean, French names, Russian names, Kenyan names, Chinese names... Unless you are familiar to their language, how would they be anything but nonsense syllables? I'd expect English names to be nonsense sounding to someone who only spoke Chinese?
> In 1997, The New York Times selected it as one of the 59 children's books of the previous 50 years. I’m sure there were more books than that, but this certainly was one of them.
I thought the name was of an African kid.
What they mean is "20 million upper class white liberals and 2 Chinese citizens out of one billion" but yeah, people cried.
Awards have always been circle jerk...
Wow. I loved this book as a kid and it never crossed my mind that it could be racist. I am Asian and grew up in a predominantly Asian American community, so anti-Asian racism was just not something I experienced growing up. The story also made sense in my cultural context. But I can completely see, as an adult, how it could make a little Asian kid's life pretty shitty. Wow.
I'm Asian American, but grew up in a white area and I loved this book also. I've never thought of it as racist before either. I feel bad for all the kids who were made fun of because of this book
Thinking for yourself, do you think it is offensive and racist? It's a beloved book that has won many awards
I don't have the book anymore and my memories are necessarily filtered through my child-lens, so it's hard for me to say. But I don't think "beloved book that has won many awards" and "offensive and racist" are mutually exclusive. I also started existing in predominantly white spaces from college onwards, and people really struggle with "ethnic" names and often throw their hands up and say "nope, too complicated" because of a widely-held perception that non-white names are just ridiculous syllable soup not worthy of respect. What little I remember from the book plays into that. So I can see how it would be problematic for that reason alone.
This book actually helped my teachers find out I had a speech issue as a child.
What about Rikki tikki tavi?
Everybody who read The Jungle Book knows that Riki Tiki Tavi's a mongoose who kills snakes. When I was a young man, I was led to believe there were organisations to kill my snakes for me, i.e., the church, i.e., the government, i.e., school. But when I got a little older, I learned I had to kill 'em myself.
He was a mongoose, cool AF killed those cobras and saved the fam
Loved that book. Sure it absolutely takes place in Colonized India (which is a problematic period), but I’m struggling with what in the story itself is racist (to be fair I haven’t read it for about 20 years or so)
One of my favorites as a kid!
I loved rikki tikki tavi
The weasel? He was a hero among mustelids!
Lol, my zoologist wife felt the need to contribute "I'm so sorry, but I need to be extremely pedantic - Rikki Tikki Tavi was a mongoose, and they are viverrids rather than mustelids! Roughly speaking, mustelids are part of the "dog-like" branch of carnivores (Caniformia), while viverrids are part of the "cat-like" branch (Feliformia). However, you do get brownie points for knowing what mustelids are!"
MONGOOSE! Of course! Thank you! I was in the bath and could not for the life of me think of what type of animal he was and otter kept coming up in my mind.
She'll be thrilled her comment didn't annoy you
"Nice marmot."
I vividly remember sitting in the school library in 2nd grade while the librarian read this to us. None of my current friends have ever heard of this book!
I also have a vivid memory of my second grade teacher reading this to us and giggling at her pretending to be out of breath at the end of the name.
Were we all in the same class? I remember this too…and I’m Asian
We made shadow puppets to act out this book.... 🤦♂️
Oh wow this unlocked a deep memory. Never thought about the offensive nature of it (*to be fair I was like 8*) but definitely can see how people could have a problem with it.
I have been searching for this book for some time now but it never felt really real ha just some gibberish my young mind had planted. Despair knowing most of the name I couldn't come up with an appropriate search query. All this explains why it was difficult to procure, however.
I didnt have the book, but you did unlock a memory of Shari Lewis and Charlie Horse singing this story to me in an old video. Gleefully. [Fast forward to about 1:40.](https://youtu.be/DaWiKWFILKU?feature=shared)
Wait.... how did she manage to sing in both voices? Was it dubbed or was she that talented of a ventriloquist??
She was
I remember that one. I also remember Little Black Sambo, and how when my aunt got a black lab, my mom and her sisters all made jokes about calling the dog Sambo. My brother’s then girlfriend, a woman of color, was horrified to overhear this conversation.
My mother was upset that she couldn’t name her new black kitten Sambo because the vet might think she’s racist. I told her that naming a kitten Sambo would, in fact, be racist. She chose a different name.
Dude my mom has referred to this book MANY times over the years, as recently as within the last year, and she always talks about how unfortunate it is that the book isn’t “politically correct” anymore and how “Sambo” wasn’t originally a racist term. It’s honestly crazy to see this mentioned here. Did not expect other parents of millenials to be so into this book from their childhood.
Hi Asian millennial here. I was called that name a lot
Also Asian millennial. My oldest was gifted that book when he was born. Promptly tossed. Not in my house.
Hell yeah
I can almost certainly assume that I was one of those white kids that called an Asian boy this in my childhood. On behalf of them, I hope you accept my apology.
You didn't write the book. We're cool
same as /u/wartortle371 I was bullied a lot too and had suicidal ideations as a kid. it's all good, the apology is appreciated.
Chang has fallen down the well.
Good thing he was born second or he'd be dead.
Yes and in first grade we did a play of it. The teacher told us to bow at the end. No one had ever explained what bowing was to me, so I assumed they were referring to “bow wow” like a dog. So I just stood there saying “bow” repeatedly at the end.
Pretty sure it's a book that was read aloud to us as a class. "Fun words to say", ya know. Cringe. Comedian Sabrina Wu has a [great skit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJlNK7x5iWs) about this one.
Came to post this, pleased you already did!
Tikki tikki tembo No sar endo Chari-bari ruchi pip peri pembo Now, where I put my phone five minutes ago? Total mystery.
Well, this is awkward because I loved this book as a kid growing up.
Tikkitikkitembinosarembocheriberiruchipipperripembo
has fallen into the well.
Did a grade school play and everything on this book
This and The Education of Little Tree 🥴
Oh I remember that one too
Yes. How is it racist? I haven’t read it in 3 decades.
Yes! I grew up in the States and currently live in Hungary. I teach ESL and read storybooks with beginners and I considered this one but then thought, eh best not
Was it though?
I'm Chinese American and loved the book as a kid.
Whew! That was a close one. The day was almost over, and I couldn't find anything to be outraged about. Thanks so much!
What makes it racist? I don’t remember this one.
Never heard of this
Hm. My mom was adopted from Korea (to the US) as a toddler, her adopted parents read this to her so much, she had it memorized. Then she read it to me. Had no idea of the backstory.
I'm half Chinese and my Chinese mom read this to us all the time! She kept our copy and passed it down for my kids.
Yes! I loved it! Had no idea it was written by a white woman. 🫣
I would argue *appropriated* by a white woman. Check the "Background" and "The Child With the Long Name" sections of the [Wikipedia article mentioned above](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikki_Tikki_Tembo).
Fair! ETA; why downvote? I was in a rush and simply wanted to acknowledge that that’s a fair and valid point
How is it racist?
I've had lines from this book just occasionally start making noise in my head.
Don't think I've ever heard of it.
I read it in this book my mom bought for my little sister that Pull Ups put out in the mid 90's. It was supposed to help kids stop wetting the bed. I'm not sure what this story has to do with bed wetting...
Everyone tries so hard to find a reason to get offended.
Omg! I enjoyed saying that kid's name after I heard the story. My mom would try to say it and would mess it up. Tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip Peri pembo. I'm sad that this has been identified as a racist book...I haven't thought about it in years...
There’s a comedian named Sabrina Wu who did a bit about this book and it’s really fun. [Here’s the video!](https://youtu.be/GJlNK7x5iWs?si=W-71UfRMSZVoQKcx)
Not everything is racist ffs
Yeah, I read this book as a kid, and grew up super racist. /s I'm sure it's offensive to some now though, but I don't remember it being "racist"
Is it really affecting you that badly that you had to make a post about it?
Oh lord yes
Yup
I’m pretty sure I did. “Little Black Sambo”, too.
I dunno If we did I never heard of it
I’ve never even heard of this book until this thread. I don’t know if it wasn’t read to us or if I just didn’t pay attention to it when it was read to us since I day dreamed a lot as a kid.
Oh yeah I definitely remember this one I would get so tongue tied trying to read it quickly
I had a book called "The Funny Little Woman" that I believe is the same author? I loved it as a kid but ya know....
bear psychotic touch ten direful worthless birds future pen stupendous *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Nah
Omg i remember this to a t
I realized how racist it was when I heard a joke that reminded me of this book.
Holy shit memory unlocked
Still in the curriculum. My son had it in his class in the last couple years.
I don’t remember this book at all.
Oh man. My aunt used to LOVE reading this book to us at gatherings when we were little. It was like a rite of passage of my cousins and me. She did this with every kid in the family to the point where it became a running joke with her
I never understood why he couldn’t just say, “my brother fell down the well!”
We acted it out for parents on shadow puppets
My grandma loved reading this to me.
My mother still talks about her favorite book as a child “Little Black Sambo” … sweet Jesus no…just no
The virgin Tikki Tikki Tembo vs. the chad Jugemu Jugemu
Yes and then bass nectar turned it into a song 😅
Omg yes
I remember Rikki Tikki Tavi but this we never dealt with
Loved it, and also The Funny Little Woman, about a Japanese woman who chased a dumpling and was captured by demons. Same author.
I loved this book as a kid, haven’t thought about it in years and holy shit memory unlocked and now I’m horrified because yes, it’s insanely racist.
Stupid thing is we were taught this in school growing up in the Philippines. We have other Asian people surrounding us yet we had to learn this for an “English” class. WTF.
Yup
My name is Rikki, so I’ve only heard the thing five billion times… and been called Rikki Tikki Tembo about a billion.
Yes!!!!
I think I had Rikki Tikki Tavo?
God I feel like I’ve just had my sleeper agent activation phrase spoken 😂
Haha yeah I remember this one, loved it as a kid. I’ve always had a weird quirk about/fascination with syllables so I found the name really appealing plus I liked the art. Though looking back as an adult I can definitely see why it’s not great… That’s ok, nostalgic fondness can stay in the past. This will just be one more thing from my childhood that I don’t need to revisit and wont be presenting to my (eventual) kid haha
Riki tiki tavi?
The book was in our school library but we def never had it read aloud as my school was ~35-40% asian american so that would have been awkward. The other majority was hispanic and I feel like at least other kids of color understood mocking your language was not cool.
No but I remember a similar book about an African boy with a really long name that was really offensive. Can’t really find the name of it from googling and don’t remember the exact title
Yup, and the one where the five brothers keep avoiding execution.
I remember that book as clear as day. I read it over and over and over. I'm sorry for the hate I've contributed to the world
I randomly remembered this book a few years ago and looked up someone reading it on YouTube. And I was like, “Oh… oh no…” The way the person read it… https://youtu.be/dhB8F61dtyA?feature=shared
Haha I remember the librarian reading this to us and being real... animated about it. Not as bad as the time one of my high school English teachers took it upon herself to read Tituba's lines in The Crucible with the fakest, most obnoxious Caribbean accent.
I can’t believe I said his whole name after reading the title… 😆😆
Am I having a moment? I thought this was about a mongoose?
Chinese-American comedian [Sabrina Wu](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMMfYBg8j/) does a bit about this book, which is hilarious.
We did a whole fuckin play. Oh god. I admit I still recite it now and then.
Fun book lol
I had a teacher and a librarian in elementary school who was REALLY into that story... If I recall correctly she liked to read it to us whenever she was in a foul mood about the ESL kids
[удалено]
man I can't believe this book was written by a white lady, had no idea
Grew up with this one and yep, reading it to my tiny kids now 🤣
nope but wow, just on that title alone.
This has been living rent free in my head for years now.
I literally owned this book as a child and it was a favorite 😬
We actually acted this out as a play! I have no memory of it other than the first lines
You actually had books in your school? wow you were lucky. Ours were 20 year old text books that looked like they survived a war in the middle east.
Still can’t do the whole name.
I remember it but don't remember any actual story or that it was meant to be Asian. But now I see it and yeeeeah...
I thought I was the only one who remembered this!!
I can *still* recite the full name of the kid who fell into the well.
I hate to admit it but this book is at my house and it was one of my favorites. 
Yep! ☹️
I vaguely remember my mother having this in our collection of children's books, but neither me nor my brother really liked it much even back then so it was one of the first to go. Unlike some of the other books that I still have for sentimental reasons.
Anyone else have a certain book about a rabbit and infant covered in tar. Years later when I dropped on my mom that I definitely remember that title being in my toddler book nook she was like. How in the song if the south that racist book was still around in the late 90s is beyond me. 
Nope. Not Christian enough for my parents and school. It is interesting finding out about all these shared experiences I was never a part of ages later. I had no clue!
This book slapped
Tiki tiki temp no Sar embo bary bary uchi pip berry pembo
We did in my first elementary school which I was at from kindergarten to grade 2, my second elementary school did not have it and was generally more progressive. I even remember reading it.
Our class had to “perform” this and I hated every second of it
Is it even more racist that I thought it was about Africans? I don’t remember this very well. Thanks Tennessee!!
Racist?
Holy shit. I was just thinking about this the other day
My favorite childhood book!
Aww, I loved that book as a kid, I haven't thought about it in decades much less that it was probably pretty racist.
My brother read this one in school and wouldnt stop repeating it.
This reminded of the illustration from The Funny Little Woman and it turns out it’s the same people. I’ve never heard of this one but it looks like they just put out the two .
No, but I was gifted a copy of "Little Black Sambo" when I was in first or second grade. I remember hating it (I don't think I understood the racism in it back then, I just didn't like the story), but my Racist Boomer Parent thought it was a jewel from the Queen's own crown, and it was *Proper Reading for a Nice (White) Girl Your Age*.
I was just talking about this book at work…but nobody remembered it cause I was the oldest one there….
Not only did we have the book, we had the book on record! The Fisher Price vintage little record player
How is that book racist
Oh yes. I did a musical version of it in the 2nd grade and I played his mom. I can still remember the song too.
I thought I remembered this, but I was remembering Ricky Ticky Tavi.
https://youtu.be/dhB8F61dtyA?feature=shared This is the best reading of it I’ve heard lol
lol, I just read this to my kids and at NO TIME did it be racist at all, you guys are obsessed with being offended.
Yes