MY NAME

An Indian American boy’s excitement for his first day of school is tempered when his classmates can’t pronounce his name.

Their “wrinkled foreheads” and the giggles that follow make the young boy shrink into himself. He worries that his name conjures “far-off smells,” “the hot sun,” and “sweaty crowds,” and he feels lost in their "frosty stares." With downcast eyes, he turns to his parents for an embrace. His parents turn each of his hurt feelings into a vision of joy and healing. They gently remind him how his arrival meant “wrinkled faces / Creased into smiles.” They teach him that his name signifies his culture and his roots and encourage him to celebrate his differences. The vibrant illustrations mirror the unnamed boy’s moods with cool greens and blues moving into reds and oranges as he grasps his unique identity. Though the boy’s heritage is richly conveyed through warm brown skin tones and traditional Indian clothing and food, the story lacks the depth of other recent books celebrating names and cultural identities. The text leans heavily on the parents’ perspective, with little engagement to encourage the child’s own realization of his uniqueness. In the author’s and illustrator’s notes, Kelkar and Prabhat share that they’ve had similar experiences and discuss learning to embrace the beauty and power of their names. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Winning illustrations level up an uneven story.