Can You Name That Book in One Note?

December 15, 2008 11:47 AM

Oh, sigh. I need help locating a title of a story/book. Tough part is I never read it, but it was described to me by my aunt who loved the book as a youngster (she's now in her late 50's/early 60's).

And wouldn't giving this book to her be a great Christmas gift?

The book/story is about a tree that bears many different fruit. I believe there is a kingdom involved and the people have to come up with a name for this tree. The name they come up with is also the title of the book. But it's something like "The Jumanji Tree" or something (it's NOT jumanji) - it's just an odd word.

Yeah . . . that's all I've got.

posted by Sassyfras to Writing & Language (6 answers total)

Best answer: The Bojabi Tree?
posted by rewil at 11:59 AM on December 15, 2008

The Gugulunga tree? Link to a PDF that gives a very brief summary.


Wait, I think it's this book, The name of the tree: A Bantu tale.
posted by soelo at 12:04 PM on December 15, 2008

Response by poster: Holy crap. You rock! How on earth did you find it?
posted by Sassyfras at 12:04 PM on December 15, 2008

I think the book you're looking for might be "The Ungali Tree," although it features animals instead of people. It's a retelling of a Bantu folk story about a tree that has all kinds of fruit, but will only give it to an animal who knows its name. It's been rewritten by a number of authors, most recently in this version. Dunno how you'd go about finding which version your aunt would have read, though.
posted by EarBucket at 12:06 PM on December 15, 2008

Ah, didn't preview. Oh, well.
posted by EarBucket at 12:06 PM on December 15, 2008

I googled for something like "children's book naming tree fruit." The other versions of the tale came up, but also the one that fit with the "The not-jumanji Book" title format.
posted by rewil at 12:13 PM on December 15, 2008