Saddened by her classmates’ and teacher’s mispronunciations of her name, a girl is empowered by her discovery that names are like songs when she and her mom celebrate the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names. Illustrations and musicality of the book great way convey the importance of names and recognizing each. ( )

This story shows children that everyone's name is unique and special no matter how different it is and how important it is to do your best to learn the pronunciation of people's names. ( )

First week of school! ( )

I want this book to win the CLEL award for Sing. WHY? Because I love that embodies what we try to teach in early literacy. Song helps breaks down the syllables of words....and yes even names. Songs help people remember (trust me, it's still how I remember Jesus's disciples). For our young heroine, and her struggles with her teacher saying her name properly....when she learns to break it down and encourage others to do the same....beauty is seen.

What I appreciated was the pronunciation key that immediately followed certain words. As a storyteller, I would owe that to the audience that I am reading to. ( )

Everyone deserves to feel special and beautiful, and everyone ought to feel connected to their name. When children tease each other about names they don't know how to pronounce correctly, it sticks in your heart. This story is about a little girl who feels ostracized because no one at her school is saying her name correctly. Her mother teachers her how to sing her name so that everyone will say it correctly. Her mother teachers her the beauty of our names and reminds the reader about why it is so important to speak others' names correctly.