Written by: Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow 
Illustrated by: Luisa Uribe  
Reviewed by: Erin Healy
Genre: Realistic Fiction Picture Book

Did you know that all names are songs? That’s right. They each have their own unique flow, beat, and melody. Like many kids who have gone through school with names that cannot be found on gift store license plates, the girl in this story is hurt and frustrated by how her name always gets “stuck in her teachers mouth,” and how other kids at school make fun of her name. She expresses her feelings on the matter during her walk home from school with her mother, who has a powerful spin on the situation. Her mother shows how some names have a beat, that some names must be said from the heart, other names are bursting with the strength of fire. There are names that are brand new and so special they were plucked from the sky, and of course, that all names are songs. The girl’s mother turned a mundane walk home into a beautiful journey of acceptance. The next day when the girl goes to school she sings all her classmates names, and proudly belts her own until everyone is *correctly* singing it along with her: KORA- JALIMUSO!

This heartwarming story highlights the importance of names to a person’s identity and taking the time to give each name the respect it deserves by learning to say it right. I loved this book because so many students (especially students of color with culturally diverse names) have the experience in school of having their names pronounced wrong over and over again. Names are so completely entangled with one’s culture and identity, that having a teacher pronounce your name wrong and not care enough to get it right is a pretty overt message as to how they see your value within the class. I love the imagery and poetic nature of this story and how it makes the reader want to have a unique name. This is quite a juxtaposition of how unique, or culturally specific names (aka non-middle class white names) are portrayed in the dominant culture as a bother and something to be rid of and  replaced by something easier or more “American.” I would recommend using this book in any age elementary classroom, especially at the beginning of the school year to establish the importance of students learning and appreciating each others names. I would also use this book as a reminder that as educators it is our duty to make sure we learn each students name correctly. If you see your class list and aren’t sure how to say a student’s name ask their previous teachers, look it up, call the family and make sure to practice so that you don’t embarrass or place the burden on the student. You can also ask every student to pronounce their name on the first day, whether or not you think you know how it is said. And then make sure to represent a wide array of diverse names in your curriculum. There are a lot of difficult things we are expected to do as teachers, but this is not one of them. Remember all names are songs to be sung!

Here is a video of the author, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, pronouncing all of the names in the book, so that if you choose to read this book to your class you can be sure to get them right!