My Name Is a Story: An Empowering First Day of School Book for Kids

by Ashanti, Monica Mikai (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

It's not often that someone becomes so well known that going by just one name is justified. Ashanti has paved her way to accomplish that and more. Now, the Grammy award-winning performer is breaking through with her debut picture book, My Name Is a Story that celebrates the power of names and individuality. Inspired by Ashanti's real-life experiences, this lyrical picture book brims with power, pride, wonder and elegance.

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.

A perfect pick for classrooms and all story times!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063222366
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	07/12/2022
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	114,156
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Ashanti is a Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter, actor, author, and philanthropist who over three decades has built a groundbreaking career in music, film, television, and beyond. She reigns as one of Billboard’s Top Females charting in each of the last three decades from 2000’s, 2010’s, and 2020’s. Her record-breaking self-titled debut album “Ashanti” celebrates its 20-year anniversary on April 2, 2022, and she is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest selling female debut artist for this album. Throughout her career, Ashanti has sold over 27 million records worldwide. My Name Is a Story is her first book for children. 

Monica Mikai is an author and illustrator of books for children. She is passionate about creating beautiful stories and illustrations that inspire the reader to see life from a new perspective. She has a BA from Rider University and received her MFA in painting from the New York Studio School. She lives in Virginia Beach with her husband and two sons. Books Monica has illustrated include Build a House, My Name Is a Story, Thank a Farmer, and more.

Editorial Reviews

07/22/2022

PreS-Gr 3—In this debut picture book by African American singer Ashanti, the main character, also named Ashanti, has brown skin and black hair, and wishes she had an easy name, "easy like recess or sunshine." She goes home from school in tears after kids in her class make fun of her name and even the teacher pronounces it wrong. But when Ashanti's mother, also with brown skin and black hair, tells her the story of her name by saying what each letter stands for "Awesome, sunrises, harmony, art" Ashanti enthusiastically finishes the last letter of the acrostic poem herself with "idea, inspiration, innovation, imagination" and, back at school, proudly tells the class about her name. Mikai's soft pastel illustrations create a comforting atmosphere, and her portrayal of diverse students in the classroom acknowledges that just because someone is in an apparently diverse environment doesn't mean they don't feel excluded or different. Readers who like Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow's Your Name Is a Song and Yangsook Choi's The Name Jar will be happy to find another supportive name book on the shelves. VERDICT Although this is not original, it is welcome—there are never too many books about being proud of who you are—and this is a solid purchase.—Hillary Perelyubskiy

School Library Journal

2022-06-22
Singer/songwriter Ashanti’s picture-book debut follows a little girl learning to accept and celebrate her unique name.

The story opens with a brown girl named Ashanti in a racially diverse classroom; she wishes that her name was “easy…like recess, sunshine, and skipping rocks.” Instead, she finds that her name is “a spelling bee for my teacher and jumbled puzzle pieces on my classmates’ tongues.” Her classmates call her name “weird” and giggle when she writes it on the board. When she cries in her brown-skinned mother’s lap after school, her mother explains the glory of her name and offers affirming words for each letter, like awesome, strength, and harmony. Ashanti wipes her tears away, and by the time they reach the final letter of her name, she is shouting, “An INSPIRATION! INNOVATION! A bright IMAGINATION!” with a smile and a triumphant stance. Her mother tells Ashanti that her name is a story, and the next day at school, Ashanti stands before the class with her head held high. Heartfelt moments between mother and daughter are the highlight of this book. Mikai’s speckled, pastel-hued art brings light and energy to the page. This does feel like a tale that’s been done before—the story arc is similar to Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow’s Your Name Is a Song (2020), illustrated by Luisa Uribe, and the main character’s physical appearance echoes Mikai’s prior picture-book art. Still, there is room for all of these titles on shelves. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Sweet. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews