  | My name is Ai Lin Author: Adcock, Maria Wen | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
When Ai Lin starts school, she helps her classmates learn to pronounce her Chinese name and shows them that her name is not just a sound but a meaningful part of her identity and heritage.
| Illustrator: | Cheng, Yu Ting |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (09/15/25)
School Library Journal (+) (06/27/25)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 06/27/2025 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 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.—Debbie Tanner - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
