Mirha is excited to go to school and make some new friends. However, when she gets there no one can pronounce her name correctly, even the teachers! She’s too scared to correct them. When a fellow classmates asks if he can call her Maya because it will be easier for everyone, she wants to shout, “That’s not my name!” She thinks it might just be easier to change her name. That way people can always pronounce it correctly, she can find keychains with her name on it, and maybe she can even make a friend. After school that day, Mirha tells her mom her plan to change her name to something else. Her mom tells her the special meaning behind her name and that if people can remember other famous difficult names there’s no reason that they shouldn’t be able to say hers. The next day at school she tells her classmate that he hurt her feelings and even gives him a lesson on pronouncing her name the correct way. Mirha even makes friends with some classmates who also have special names. In the end Mirha is proud to tell others “that’s not my name,” when they mispronounce or get her name wrong.
I can relate to Mirha because when I was growing up (and even now) people had a hard time pronouncing my name and I could never find my name on personalized items. I always dreading a new teacher in class since I would always be embarrassed to correct them on how to say my name. Like Mirha, I wanted to change my name to something that was easier for others to pronounce. Also like Mirha, I found out the special meaning behind my name and now I love having a name that is unique. There are even times where it makes things easier! I wish that this book had been around when I was younger so that I could have known that it is okay to tell people that’s not my name.
While this is a picture book, I think this book would be good for any child who might be struggling with how they feel about their own name.
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