by Zeshan Akhter
illustrated by Åsa Gilland
 
A child of Pakistani heritage shares how her name, Sitara, is precious, a gift bestowed on her by her parents at birth, “the first present I ever got”. She also has a special name, “Bheeti”, but only her Daddy uses that. Also, “Bahadir” but that’s reserved for Mummy. Sitara is her specially chosen everyday name and yet those around her, neighbours and classmates, repeatedly mispronounce it, scrambling it up in to “jumbled up sounds”. Frustrated, we see her do a class presentation, complete with a family album and an explanation of where ‘Sitara’ comes from- after which we see all the class share their names. The final two pages invite the young reader to examine their own name, its origins and its meanings. 
 
A gorgeously illustrated story in which a child challenges a familiar microaggression with remarkable generosity and thoughtfulness, buoyed up by a loving extended family. Perfectly suited to the classroom and, we might add, a great prompt to place the ‘burden’ and responsibility of this challenge back on to adults. 
 
‘I love this book. It’s actually something we’ve been working on in school…love the invitation at the end for children to explore their own names’ (Edyta, Deputy Head, Primary, Letterbox Library Reviewer). Age 4-7, Paperback 24pp
 
Themes: Diverse Families