Your Name is a Song

Genre: Picture Book⠀

Ages: 4-6⠀

Price: 17 usd⠀

Available:@sirajstore and Amazon

link: https://amzn.to/2S7bRxO

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Islamic notes: mentions of music/songs for those uncomfortable with it.⠀

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Summary: A little girl walks home with her mother and tells her that she doesn’t like school. When the mom asks why, the girl explains that no one can pronounce her name. The Mom sees a musician on the street and gets inspired. She tells her daughter that her name “is a song”. Each time they hear a new sound, the mother tells her daughter new names and how they “come from the heart”, “have fire”, or “twinkle like stars”.⠀

The mother inspires her daughter to be proud of her name, and the next day at school, she walks in and, when her teacher can’t pronounce her name, she stars singing. Pretty soon, everyone is singing their names. And her name is sung out correctly!⠀

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Thoughts: I love how this book addresses a much needed topic, the one about pronunciation of names. I remember many times when I was young where kids would make fun of my name and the way it was pronounced. I love how this book empowers children to think of their name as something beautiful, something unique and important, and something to be proud of.⠀

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I love how the mom used diverse names from all sorts of cultures. I really like how the names had the correct pronunciation spelled out for kids to say them correctly! The end of the book actually contains a glossary of the names, their origin, and their meanings-which is so beautiful to see!⠀

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I like how the mother explains that names were stolen a long time ago, and that these names come from dreamers. It lightly touches on the history of slavery, and shows pride in African American creativity with names. I loved the Black Pride in the book!⠀

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I also liked how the girl's name was kept as a surprise to the end! It built up the suspense in the book for my kids.⠀

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The book shows the mother as a Muslim, with a turban style hijab, and when she says Salaams to her daughter, but the story is relatable to any child with a unique name!⠀

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This book would be useful for libraries, schools, and homes for kids to learn the importance of their names and being proud of who you are and where you came from!

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