My Name Is Ai Lin
Synopsis
In this empowering story, one child shows that by making the effort to properly pronounce someone's name, we send the welcoming message that everyone is worthy of respect and dignity. When Ai Lin starts school, none of her classmates can say her name. The children make several attempts, but they still cannot pronounce it properly. They ask Ai Lin if they can just call her by another name. It's not that important, right? But Ai Lin knows the significance of her Chinese name. No, it can't be changed. Her name is part of her identity and heritage. Her name was chosen not only for what it means, but also for how it sounds. It ties her to her family—present and past—and to its traditions. When Ai Lin shares her family history with her classmates, they come to understand that a name can be a person's story, special and unique. Ai Lin's name, and all that it means and stands for, is as personal as a fingerprint, as distinct as a snowflake.
Book info
Publisher:
Sleeping Bear Press
Release date:
2025-07-01
Book category
Picture books
Language:
English
ISBN:
978-1534113114
About Maria Wen Adcock
Maria Wen Adcock is the author of IT'S CHINESE NEW YEAR, CURIOUS GEORGE (2023) and MY NAME IS AI LIN (2025). Maria is a first-generation Chinese-American writer and founder of the award-winning multicultural parenting blog www.MariaWenAdcock.com. She has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, Bloomberg News, Newsday, and Huffington Post. Maria is a board member of Multicultural Kid Blogs, an organization supporting diverse parenting bloggers, and co-host of the annual publishing event Read Your World Day. She also works at the local library in the children’s department. Maria resides on Long Island with her husband and two children.
MY NAME IS AI LIN Receives a Starred Review from School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 3–Ai Lin has to teach her classmates how to say her name properly. When she started school, the kids said American words and names instead of her name. She carefully explains the meaning of her name and how it fits into her culture. Ai Lin does a beautiful job with the explanations and the lovely, muted artwork shows her loving family and her joy at being a respected part of the school community. This is an excellent book for the beginning of the school year and will pair well with other books about names like Kevin Henkes’s Chrysanthemum or Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow’s Your Name is a Song. With a very light touch, it offers discussion points on respect for others, cultural traditions, and the how and why parents choose names. The author’s notes about her own experiences with her name as well as the Chinese characters for the names in the book are a nice addition. VERDICT This charming book about a girl navigating new situations belongs in every collection.