My Name Is Leona

As it happens for the little girl in this heartwarming story, sometimes people have a change of heart. Leona tells us right off the bat that she doesn’t like her name. She does her very best to understand this name, but she can’t. It isn’t even on the family tree! Like the author, Leona never names her dolls or stuffed animals – it’s just too difficult to decide on the right name! – and vows to change her name when she grows up.

Naming her pet goldfish offers a whole new challenge, and the trouble doesn’t end when Leona finds herself torn between two names while trying to name her cat. As it dawns on Leona that choosing the right name is hard to do, she goes to the source. Finally she realizes that her own name is special – as special as she is – and that it was picked “on purpose, with love, and deliberately!” In fact, every name in this story was selected with the utmost care.

“Leona” was the name of the author’s beloved grandmother, and even the alternate names Leona tries out are the names of the author’s daughters, mother, mother-in-law, sisters, and her other grandmother. Charming and sweet, this story reveals just exactly how Leona learns to love her name and the many mishaps she experiences as she comes to realize that choosing one, for herself or someone else, is anything but easy.

Illustrated by Kim Fujiwara

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