Tag Archives: name

Mar26

Abdullah’s Bear Needs a Name by Yasmin Hanif illustrated by Sophie Benmouyal

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Abdullah’s Bear Needs a Name by Yasmin Hanif illustrated by Sophie Benmouyal

I love the idea behind this 28 page book, and the illustrations are pretty great too, but I felt like the story needed a little more depth to convey meaningful emotion, appreciation, and connection.  It starts with an Eid gift, but there is nothing tying it to the holiday after the first spread.  And while it shows both Islam and Desi culture in action, I wanted to hear the stories of his family, and the connection to his culture that helps him name his bear.  I also feel like the premise was a little rocky, did everyone get family heirlooms for gifts? Did they get other gifts? Why was he gifted this special stuffed toy and not his older or younger siblings? Would a kid really be that excited to get a hand me down stuffed bear? Once you read the author’s intent, and the inspiration for the story, an adult could connect the dots and help a reader recognize the internalized othering being overcome, and discuss it, but I don’t know if all kids would not pick a cultural name for a toy, or see that Abdullah didn’t consider reflective names either.

The book starts with the reader dropped into an Eid day celebration.  Abdullah is handed a gift by his parents and when he unwraps it he finds himself the new owner of an old well-loved teddy bear.  His father was the previous owner, but refuses to tell Abdullah the bear’s name, urging him to discover it on his own.

Abdullah loves the bear, and takes it with him to the store, to school, to cricket, to madrasa Everywhere he goes he tries out names: old names at the museum, classmates names, but nothing seems to fit.  When his Abba tells him a story about his grandfather, he finally finds the perfect name for his bear.

I really like the details in the illustrations, they bring the story to life and feel authentic: the store names, the Eid spread, the activities.  I feel like this book is so close to being a standout, but I don’t know that kids who don’t find themselves exactly in Abdullah’s mindset, would be able to relate and connect to what transpires.  Unfortunately, it is unclear if he grows and learns from the experience, or if it was contained to this one incident. 

 

 

Mar25

The Great Henna Party by Humera Malik illustrated by Sonali Zohra

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The Great Henna Party by Humera Malik illustrated by Sonali Zohra

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This 32 page story shares a desi family at a henna party before a wedding.  There is nothing Islamic in this book by a Muslim author, it is simply cultural.  The story on its own is fine.  It is sweet and joy filled, as a girl tries to decide who’s name to have hidden in her henna design.  I do wonder though, if the book is meant to be a window into desi culture, why the Urdu word “mehndi” isn’t used instead of henna.  It mentions it in the backmatter, that mehndi is the Urdu word, but it seems a little inauthentic and western gaze presenting throughout the story, and honestly I really struggled to get past it.

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The book starts with Noor entering the henna party, the night before her cousins wedding, to sing with the ladies of the family and have their hands painted.  Her mother asks her if she knows about the name game, where the bride hides the grooms name on her hands, and if he finds it, he wins, and if he does not, the bride wins. Noor asks if she can hide someone’s name and her mom says yes, just tell the artist.

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She watches her dad setting up decorations and wonders if she should have his name hidden.  She then sees her Mama playing the dholki and singing and wonders if she should hide her mother’s name.  She continues through various family members before making her decision.  Along the way the reader learns about the music, the food, the clothes, and how the paste dries and leaves a color.

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The page on food starts with spices, then talks of samosa and then they are eating ladoo, and while I’m glad there is not a glossary, I don’t know that the lacking context clues make any of those scrumptious foods known. I do like that her grandfather helped her pick out her lehenga, and her father is shown decorating to show full family involvement.

Ultimately, though I think the tricky thing about cultural weddings, is that every family has their own traditions, and while in a desi wedding some things might be widespread, when presenting them to readers outside your culture, it is hard to know how they will be perceived.  I almost feel like this book makes it seem that every family hides names in the mehndi as a staple of the festivities. And based on other reviews I’ve read, people seem to feel that this is insightful into the culture, or that hiding and finding names has more weight, a stress even, than just being fun.

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I could be over thinking it, but it feels like even the backmatter is trying to cast a wide net over every religion and culture that uses henna and ends up being oddly vague in this specific example.  Like I said the book is adequate, I like that the little protagonist Noor, loves so many people and solves her dilemma on her own, it has plot, and conflict and resolution, it just seems to lack the exciting tone and thus fails in immersing the reader into the henna party.

Jul7

The Unlovable Alina Butt by Ambreen Butt-Hussain

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The Unlovable Alina Butt by Ambreen Butt-Hussain

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This middle grade book in many ways reads like a memoir, it isn’t, it is OWN voice fiction, but the chapters often come across like short stories with their own climax or punchline.  The lacking continuity of smaller threads being resolved means if you put the book down, you aren’t necessarily itching to pick it back up to see what happens next.  There isn’t a larger pressing conflict driving much of the book, yes the girl is bullied, but by one kid, and she has a great group of friends and a supportive family, so the intensity is just not present.  I do like the growth of the character toward self-acceptance, but I don’t know that the target audience will get the 90s references of Spice Girls,  CDs, lava lamps, and gel pens.  The book hits most of the stereotypical immigrant tropes of feeling othered by one’s name, clothes, food, and while she works through them to deal with the bully and find her own confidence, she unfortunately never deals with her internalized Islamophobia, which is disappointing.  She puts Islam on her parents as something they practice, and only begrudgingly seems to acknowledge she too is Muslim when she doesn’t eat pizza with non halal meat.  She is embarrassed when her friends see Islamic calligraphy at her house, hear the athan, she doesn’t reply to her parents salaams, she calls her mother “the most devout in our family” as the reason she has to wear tights under her skirt: she only seems to ok with being Muslim when outsiders give their approval.  The book for me is mediocre, nothing to rush out and buy, nor anything to pull from shelves.  I’ll send my copy to the Islamic school library shelves as the book is fairly clean: a few giggles about naked statues at the museum and very lightly hinted at boy/girl crushes. The older sister deals with a boy who wants to date her and harasses her to the point of affecting her personality, but I think if a 10 or 11 year old picked up the book and read it, they would be ok to see the characters finding their voice, good friends, and sibling support.

SYNOPSIS:

Eleven year old Alina Butt is in her fourth school in three years since arriving in England from Pakistan.  She never fits in, and never has friends, but she is determined that if she can keep her last name a secret, she might have a chance.  One the third day of 6th grade though, her last name becomes known and Adam Atkins has his eyes set on giving her a hard time.  With encouragement from her older sister and love from her baby brother, Alina puts herself out there to make friends and when the teacher assigns her a new group, she finds herself among three girls happy to welcome her in.  The new group also puts her sitting across from Adam, but at least now she doesn’t have to face him alone.

At home, she navigates life as an immigrant trying to blend her worlds.  Her loving family lives above the grocery store they own and face Islamophobia and settling in together as they each have to find their strength and voice and resilience to drive, stand up to harassment, and for Alina, to love herself.  Alina gets the courage to try out for the school play, but when she lands the part of Gus in Cinderella, she has to dig deep to be happy for her friend, forgive a bully, and step in to the spotlight.

WHY I LIKE IT:

Alina is likeable enough, and I love that she grows to love herself too, I’m not sure she was ever unlovable though as the title suggests.  I don’t like that potentially really big plot points are mentioned and then abandoned.  She cuts her bangs way too short, her mom says something and no one else ever mentions it, and she never brings it up again.  Her dad is so sick he leaves the truck on the side of the road and sleeps and the mom takes care of everything, and what was wrong with the dad is never revisited.  These are just two examples of rising action that present that they are going to be important that are seemingly undermined by the lack of follow through.

I love that she finds a way to stand up to the bully and she even helps her sister deal with the boy antagonizing her.  It is strong and resonates with the reader, but it should also be noted that as soon as she has friends, they are gossiping and being rude to Adam too.  I’m not saying it isn’t warranted, and he definitely is worse, but if she is modeling behavior she should perhaps at least feel bad teasing him even before she knows that he has a bit of a rocky home life.  Plus he is one kid with two stereotypical sidekicks, yeah he is annoying and mean, but she has friends and family and teachers that are completely on her side too.  And Adam bullies her about her name, but no one else even acknowledges it or asks her about it.

I didn’t quite get the schooling, but it is probably because I am American.  She is in middle school, but she has one teacher all day and they play on the soccer fields at break and her kg aged brother does field day with her?   The 90s references were fine for me, but I don’t know that the target audience will get some of them, and it might be a little annoying to get through for younger readers.

Ultimately, the way Islam was presented was really disappointing.  It feels like we should be past the internalized othering of our faith.  The culture was worked through and appreciated internally for Alina, but for some reason, religion was only ok when the outside influences deemed it acceptable, and I’m not sure that in 2023 this angle of narrative is doing anyone any favors.  She loves her mom, and part of the character arc is seeing and appreciating her mother’s strength, but very early on mom is labeled as “devout” even though they are all Muslim.  And this self othering to be the reason her mom is keeping her from dressing like everyone else left a bitter taste in my mouth.  Never once does it feel that Alina has a connection to Allah swt, no matter what she is going through there is no bismillah, or prayer, or dua to ask for help, and strength, or show appreciation.  I absolutely get that not every story will have that, but the way Islam is presented as something foreign and never circled back on or portrayed as something that she embodies, makes all the mentions of faith seem deliberately othering, and as a Muslim book reviewer, I feel it is an important point to mention about this book. I wonder if it was intentional or an oversight sensitivity reading would have helped resolve.

FLAGS:

Birthdays, music, bullying, harassment, teasing, othering, mention of naked statues, some sneaking and dishonesty.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I wouldn’t use this as a book club selection, and as stated above I wouldn’t rush out to buy the book to shelve at home, in a class or school library, but if it found its way to the shelves I would not remove it.  The book has heart, I just feel like along the way the messaging of finding your voice and putting yourself out there to make friends, the book also hints that the Quran on your walls, modesty, the athaan, eating halal, are all things that are weird, unless your friends think it is cool, then it is ok- and that is not messaging I would really want to spread.

Aug22

That’s Not My Name by Anoosha Syed

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That’s Not My Name by Anoosha Syed

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I have been looking forward to this book, as I’ve enjoyed so many of the illustrations the author has created for other authors, and was anxious to see what kind of story she would write for her own authorial debut.  Unfortunately, the book didn’t wow me.  It is rather forgettable, the book conflates notions of not being able to pronounce someone’s name with not being memorable and with not having a “normal” name, and then recognizing how so many classmates have unique names too.  A bit scattered in messaging, and overall reading like an adult talking, not a young girl of four or five, on her first day of school.  No doubt the illustrations are beautiful, and the book isn’t “bad” or a “waste of time,” but it isn’t a strong clear story.  I’ve seen reviews where people find the little girl rude, and I don’t know that I’d agree with that, she is frustrated and wants to scream, “that’s not my name” when people say it wrong, but I do agree that she could model what to say better and how to handle it.  Not that I expect those with uncommon names to have to carry the weight of making things easy, but the little girl at the end remarks that she has so many new friends at school with “unique, beautiful names, and she always makes sure she says them right,” implying that some dialogue, both about her name and about theirs, takes place to ensure pronunciation is correct, and some “showing” of how that is achieved would be nice.  Before the story starts, on the title page, there is a pronunciation breakdown of Mirha, but not in the text itself. There is nothing Islamic in the book, the Grandmother wears a scarf loosely draped over her head, there is a crescent and moon wall hanging in an illustration, and the girl’s name is claimed to be Arabic in origin.

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The book starts with it being Mirha’s first day of school.  She is excited to learn, to play, and to make friends, but when no one seems to be able to say her name, she starts to feel shy. Frustrated and sad she decides to change her name, and tells her mom when she gets home.  Her mother tells her, her name is beautiful and why she was named what she is named.  She builds her up and the next day armed with her mother’s words she is ready to make friends and teach them how to say her name. By the end of the book Mirha has friends, and wants to be your (the reader’s) friend too.

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The voice of the book is inconsistent at times it feels very older kid, almost adult, even though the 40 page book is meant for three to five year olds.  The examples read like an adult reflecting on their childhood struggles with their name, not as a young girl finding her voice and appreciation for the name she has.

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When Hayden asks if he can call her Maya instead of Mirha it is because Maya is easier.  Kids are hearing all sorts of names for the first time when they enter school, that conversation seems so forced.  Whether the kids are in preschool or daycare or kindergarten, most of the names they are hearing of their classmates are being heard for the first time.  If they watch a lot of tv and YouTube and movies, they have heard a whole variety of names, they are not going to have a dialogue that sounds like that, at that age, just not realistic.  Similarly after the first day of school she wants to change her name to something “normal?” What is a “normal” name even, then the mom even reinforces that notion when saying she knows she named her something “unique and different.”  A concept that returns at the end when asserting that Mirha has friends with lots of unique names.  Seems to go in circles.

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I appreciate that examples are given about not seeing your name on keychains or having the barista get it right, but again, she is under the age of five, are these really her points of reference for having a less common name than those around her?  When her mother is making the case that she shouldn’t change her name she references that names such as Beethoven and Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo are memorable.  First of all, what (under) five year old knows those names or who those people are, and second of all, now her name is not memorable? I thought it was hard to pronounce? Has she done something worthy of history books and admiration? I get what the author is trying to do, I often tell my students that they need to demand people say their names right.  If they can rattle off names from Pokemon, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Beyblades, they can say the beautiful names they have been given.  But the kids I am saying it to are not in preschool, nor am I conflating the pronunciation of their names with being names of famous people that are memorable. Additionally, I do not speak Arabic, but a quick Google search does not show that Mirha means happiness in Arabic, and I have heard from native Arab speakers that they also found the meaning off.

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The illustrations are engaging, the broader message of getting people’s name right and demanding people get your name right is important, it just needed a more age aligning voice and connecting with the reader.

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Aug31

Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow illustrated by Luisa Uribe

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Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow illustrated by Luisa Uribe

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An amazingly empowering simple story that breathes pride and beauty in to names and our identities.  The 40 pages are a celebration of the rhythm of our names and the dreams and hopes that they contain for us.  Perfect for kindergarten to second graders, readers of all ages will find something valuable in this book.  Those with “common” names might reevaluate what their names mean or why they were so named, children with “unique” names will find the music and confidence to ask others to learn their name correctly, older kids might reconsider shortened nick names, and we all inshaAllah will make more of an effort to get people’s names pronounced right.

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A little girl has had an awful first day of school.  As she stomps toward her mom at dismissal.  No one could say her name.  Not even the teacher, it got stuck in her throat.  Her mom gently reminds her stomping is only for dancing, and tells her that her name is a song.

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The little girl is skeptical, but as they say people’s names on their way home, and find the magic and rhythm and beat in each one, they address the horrible things that have happened to the girl that day regarding her name.  At lunch girls pretended to choke on her name, and later one boy said her name was scary, some even tell her, her name sounds made up.

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Her mother explains that some names come from deep in the heart, not the throat and cannot be choked on, that names are fire and strong, and that names are made from the sky when our real names were stolen and so new ones have to be dreamed.

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All the way home they go through names, diverse names, beautiful names.  The next day she doesn’t want to go to school, but she has a song to teach.  When her teacher starts calling  out names, the little girl starts tapping the rhythm, when Ms. Anderson starts to struggle on the little girl’s name, she starts to sing it.  She explains that her name is a song, and that she will teach it to them.  The other children then ask her to sing their names. And with a smile on her face, it is music to Kora-Jalimuso’s ears.

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I love that there are three pages of the names mentioned in the story and their origins and meanings listed.  I also like that the little girl’s name is not revealed until the end.  The pronunciation of the names is in the text, all of them, even Bob.   And when I read the name Trayvon, I felt an added weight of saying people’s names, breathing them into our lives and not forgetting them.

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The family could be Muslim based on the mom’s head wrap.  The author is Muslim and there are Arabic and Islamic names included in the story.

Jan27

Teach Us Your Name by Huda Essa illustrated by Diana Cojocaru

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Teach Us Your Name by Huda Essa illustrated by Diana Cojocaru

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This book will resonate and empower anyone who has a “different” name, and hopefully provide insight and awareness for us all.  This 32 page picture book for grades 1st and up has a self empowering message, a confidence building approach, and problem solving tips to achieve a desired goal in a respectful way.  Written by a Muslim author, the book’s text is well done, unfortunately the pictures are inconsistent to me, some are beautiful and detailed, others seem rushed and unfinished.

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There are 20 letters in Kareemalayaseenadeen’s name, and the first day of school is such a stress for her.  She fears the teacher stumbling over her name, the other children laughing, and her unable to tell them how to pronounce her name correctly.  Her mom tries to explain that for some people the kids at school have hard names, and that for some people her name is easy.

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She reflects that in fact no one has ever made fun of her for her name, but that in history class she never sees her name, or on TV or in movies or on key chains.  She can hardly fit her name on her worksheets, and fitting it on banners is impossible too.  Eventually the kids kust call her Karma-Deen and even though she dislikes it, she is too shy to speak up.

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Over the summer, Kareemalayaseenadeen goes on vacation to visit family.  She doesn’t even think much about her name where everyone can pronounce it and say it with ease. Her Sittee though, has heard about her anxiety and sits with her to help her work through it.

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Sittee asks Kareemalayaseenadeen if she knows that her name means “excellent guidance” and that her name is a big part of her.  If she doesn’t like her name she isn’t liking an important part of herself.  She then urges her grandaughter to guide others on the proper way to pronounce her name.

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On the flight home, she ponders her grandma’s words and how to guide others to proper pronouncation, without being rude or settling on them shortening her name.  When she gets home she puts her plan in to action. And it works!

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When Kareemalayaseenadeen grows up, she becomes a teacher and each year she reads this book she has written (the one I’m reviewing) and asks her students to teach her how to say their names.

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The importance of how valuing someones name values the person and their family and culture is really one that as a society we have to keep working on.  We can say  names from Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars and Game of Thrones with no problem, so why can’t we try and pronounce someone’s name who is real and next to us and important to us? We have become lazy, and we need to do better, this book is sweet and kind and should really be read regularly as a reminder to us all, that names are beautiful.

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There is nothing religious about the book or even culture specific. There is a hijabi in the illustration of the market place in the unspecified “overseas country” and the name Kareemalayaseenadeen has Arabic bits, but a lot of names do as well, grandma is refereed to as Sitti, but isn’t defined, so the book is definitely meant for eveyone, especially those who will never find their name on a mug at a gift shop!