As someone with a difficult name for English-speakers to pronounce (especially when encountered and read for the first time), I truly looked forward to this picture book. It was very cute with pictures incorporated of a young Thao Lam. It was a humorous approach to how names are often mispronounced by including all the names Thao was called growing up. There is also a small touch on Thao's initial desire to want to be named something different. Although it was about embracing your name and what it may represent it, I would have liked for there to have been more unique names included or the journey it takes to be proud of your unique name and the world it opens after you've embraced it (maybe too much to ask for in a short picture book?). Overall, I loved the book and intention and solidarity of having unique names in the English-speaking world.

I don't know if it was the topic or the illustrations that sold me on this, but lovely. I adore the scrapbook/paper illustration look of the illustrations. And I think the story is one that embraces inclusiveness and diversity.

This is a beautiful children's picture book that tackles a topic very near to my heart, seeing as I'm only now embracing my own Asian-inspired name in favor of the Anglo one I've used professionally since I started getting paid to review books. In my case, however, the Asian-inspired name is a weird mess my parents made up, hippie-style: even they caved and have been calling me Doreen for as long as I can remember. My real first name, Edaureen, is distinctive and, IMO, looks pretty on the page. It's pronounced ee-DOW-reen but not even my best friend from grade school could get it right, so I've never minded being called Doreen, since that is essentially what I've been called since birth. Plus, it kinda stings whenever people pronounce it wrong (or when they think it's a variant on Eduardo, like, wat?) so I actively encourage the nickname in social settings.

It's my last name I've always felt bad about eliding. My parents shortened it from Muhamad Nor (my dad's given name, as is tradition in my culture) to just Nor when I enrolled in American kindergarten, and I've pretty much gone by Doreen Nor when in the west, sometimes adding M as a pretend middle initial, a defiant reminder that I'm Muslim even if I don't look it. I adopted Doreen Sheridan as my professional name after I married, tho I never changed it legally. Being both Muslim and Malaysian, the patriarchal adoption of a male spouse's family name feels like an unnecessary erasure of my own identity. I was willing to go along with name changes socially and professionally, but legally just felt like too much of a negation of who I am, where I come from and what I believe.

Which is why I found this book exceedingly relatable. Telling the autobiographical story of the author as a little girl, trying to get people to call her by her actual name instead of a weird or even racist variant, this book is gorgeously designed and presented in a way that makes it easy for young readers to digest and empathize with. I've always been a fan of Thao Lam's collage art, and love the incorporation of her own childhood photos here.

But I found it baffling that she doesn't actually explain how to say her name. In the book, she shows a lot of the mispronunciations -- several of which I'd guessed were how I was supposed to pronounce her name -- but not the actual way to say it. And that's a huge letdown. The name Thao and its correct pronunciation are uncommon knowledge. Readers likely picked up this book because they're open to learning how to say it correctly. I get that Ms Lam might not have wanted to go into greater detail here about how to have that conversation in general -- tho that's a hugely useful topic for young readers, IMO! -- but there's a weird undercurrent of "if you can't say my name correctly then you're the one who's deficient, not me."

First of all, no one is deficient for having an unusual name nor for lacking an innate understanding as to how to say it. Not knowing how to pronounce things is both common and not inherently racist. Encouraging people to ask politely instead of assuming only works if you're not going to be weird, or worse, about answering the question. People with entitlement issues deserve to be knocked down a peg, but people who don't know but would like to learn should be taught what they need. If you're going to write an entire book lamenting the mispronunciation of your name, it's bizarre that you wouldn't also use that book to tell people how to say your name correctly.

Another reviewer on Goodreads very helpfully found <a href="https://www.teachingbooks.net/pronounce.cgi?pid=2784">this link</a> as to how Ms Lam pronounces it. Being Malaysian, I didn't even know the correct pronunciation of her last name, as we default to a different "a" sound, as with the one Malaysian Lam I know in real life. All that said, I'm glad this book is now a part of the conversation, even if I think it could have contributed more. It's another visually beautiful addition to Ms Lam's canon, even if it falls short in talking about how we can all respectfully learn to address one another.

Thao by Thao Lam was published today April 15th 2021 by Owlkids Press and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781771474320">Bookshop!</a> Want it now? For the Kindle version, <a href="https://amzn.to/3meFzPL">click here</a>.

Renowned Canadian author, Thao Lam, tells the story of growing against the backdrop of a culture that doesn't deal well with difference.

It begins with an adorable photograph of the author as a young girl. The next page shows her surrounded by a diverse group of students - all of them staring at her. The text reads, It's not easy being Thao.

What follows is a description of her name and the issues she had to deal with because of it. It's regularly misspelled. Sometimes it is accidentally mispronounced. More often, other children make fun of her because of it.

Life with an English name would have been easier. At one point Thao contemplated becoming Jennifer. There is a page of text with a Jennifer doing all the things Thao would do during a day. Then she imagines her mother's gỏi cuốn (spring rolls), and leaves off wanting to be someone else. At the end of the book she finally teaches us to say and spell her name properly.

The artwork, a combination of childhood photographs and cut paper collage, is full of angst, tenderness, and humour. This important book teaches readers awareness and empathy. It encourages other new immigrants to take pride in their own names and identity.

Highly recommended.

A visually fun book to read. Every kids bookshelf should make room for this one. I would like more info on names and food and the details that made Thao feel different growing up.

Cute book! But not really much in terms of content. I'm not really sure what this book's intention is and if it's a children's book, what are children supposed to learn from it?

This book would be helpful for young people who may not have names like the rest of their classmates. Their parents might come from a different country or maybe they have just moved to a different country [which is awesome!] or they may have a less common name, but properly pronouncing and spelling someone's name IS important. I think this would be helpful to children going through this situation. Although I thought the book was cute, I felt there could have been more to the story to really make the content pop. My rating for this title would be 3/5.

Names are important. I enjoyed Thao in part because I have a name that is mispronounced and misspelled. Taking the time to learn how to pronounce words and names that are unfamiliar to us is a worthy endeavor and this picture book--with the "just-right" bit of annoyance and sass--will help get that point across to readers. I especially love that this is autobiographical from an award-winning author.
*Some of the charm of the illustrations and how they are combined with the photographs is missing in the digital copy since it doesn't load well on a Kindle.

This is a simple but powerful story of a child who has spent years tolerating the mispronunciation of her name. The collage illustrations are incredible and are cleverly put alongside photos of Thao, which further suggests the difference she felt between herself and the others.

As a person that came from Southeast Asian heritage/family, I can't stress how important this message is to me. From the endearing narrative and adorable scrapbook like pictures, Lam uses this medium to express her childhood and learning to accept her Vietnamese identity.

It's a compelling story about identity and acceptance, and it's perfect for all ages. I'm hoping I can have the chance to read this to my younger niece.

A simple picture book about the importance of a name and the frustration the author felt when people didn't get it right. The illustrations are an interesting blend of photographs and collage with some pages having only words...including the hurtful words used instead of her name. You can feel the author's hope that people will understand how to say her name, and that hope turns to resignation, wishing for an easier, more "normal" name. This book would be paired well with Alma and How She Got Her Name, Teach Us Your Name, Your Name is a Song, and The Name Jar.

As someone whose name gets butchered almost always for the past twenty years this book spoke to me. It brought back memories from when I entered my first classroom in Canada when I was 7 and had to accept my teacher’s pronunciation of my name because I was too shy and quiet to fix it.

Thao is about the Lam’s own experience with navigating spaces where her name becomes a source of ridicule and unfamiliarity that makes her want to adapt to her surroundings. Thao decides to change her name to Jennifer so it’s easier and less likely to be made fun of, but when she opens her lunch box to her favourite Vietnamese food she’s more comfortable as Thao. Lam’s use of her own childhood photos, creative typography, and her signature papercut style art brings forth a personal touch and as a reader feels closer to the story and the author.

It’s an important story of diversity, racism, and acceptance. The importance of self-identity and being proud of your heritage is an meaningful aspect of this book and illuminates on the ways your name is not just what is used to call you but also a story of who you are.

The story is told in such a lively way, and it’s so relatable for kids with names that are not white-sounding. The illustration is simple but so effective. I would definitely consider using this with my first graders!

This was an adorable children's story about identity that is important for both children and adults to read.

This was a cute book. I wish the author had put the pronunciation of Thao on the first page instead of at the end of the book but I understand why they chose not to. It’s a good book for kids to learn about different names and feel better when they may have an unusual name that gets mispronounced.

Thao has trouble getting people to say her name correctly, so she tries being a Jennifer. But really, she isn't a Jennifer, and shouldn't have to be what she isn't. A very early lesson in the first step in respecting others: learning and saying their names. Appealing multimedia illustrations.

This is a very short book targeting kids teaching them about racism, the author uses her name as an example and how she was bullied because no one could pronounce it correctly. I could relate to her, because my name is hard to pronounce for some foreigners, and it can get awkward.

It's a good book for kids, but it's too short, It should've been longer.

I thank Netgalley and Owlkids for the digital ARC.

I absolutely loved how the author addressed such an important topic in such a simplistic way. Growing up as a first-generation Vietnamese-American I was often ostracized in elementary school for my "weird" food and it wasn't until I got older when I learned that my family showcased their love through food and I should never feel ashamed for embracing my culture and heritage. This is an amazing story and the representation I wish I had when I was younger. I can't wait for children to delve into this story!

#ThePaperBoat #NetGalley

This title begins with some newspaper renditions. After this, it is a wordless picture book with the exception of the author’s afterword. The art work is made up of Ms. Lam’s intricate collages.

The book tells the story of a refugee family fleeing Vietnam after the war. It is based on the experiences of the author’s family.

There are many illustrations with humans and others with ants. In her afterword, the author explains this choice. It resonates for her and may well resonate for those who pick up this title as well.

This book is geared toward children in grades one to four. I feel that it is one that may best be looked at with an adult.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

My only wish is that there was more of an actual ending to this (it was a little abrupt), but I always love Thao's books.