It mystifies me why we are getting book after book about teachers struggling to pronounce the names of children in their classrooms. It really mystifies me. Your name is who you are. Every name matters. Every name should be respected and honored.
So here we have Ashanti who goes to school and is left in tears thanks to the teacher who bobbles the ball, swings and misses, and apparently lacks the quality of empathy entirely as he completely fails to honor her name and respect how to pronounce it because it's a name he has not heard before.
The rest of the story takes us to the better place. It celebrates the wonder of all the facets of the name Ashanti... a very special name chosen and given to a very special child.
I wonder who else hasn't learned to respect the importance of a name?
40 pages 978-0063222366 Ages 4-8
Keywords: respecting others, names, diversity, diverse books, Black Girl books, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, self image, self esteem, first day of school, empowerment
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
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From Grammy Award-winning singer Ashanti comes an empowering story about a girl who learns to love her unique name.
First days aren’t easy for a girl with a name like Ashanti. It feels like no one can pronounce it correctly! But with some encouragement from her mom, Ashanti spells her name and learns just how special it is.
A is for awesome, S is for sunsets, H is for hand games, A is for art…
Inspired by Ashanti’s own experience, this delightful picture book shares the joy that one child finds in her name.---from the publisher
40 pages 978-0063222366 Ages 4-8
