A lit­tle boy tells how he received the gift of his name by first intro­duc­ing King David, then dis­cussing how Adam named all of the liv­ing things, list­ing bib­li­cal names and names com­mon in Mex­i­co, Rus­sia, and Israel, and then explain­ing how he was named after his great-grand­fa­ther. Jew­ish nam­ing cus­toms are briefly explained in an author’s note. The text jumps from King David to Adam to nam­ing cus­toms around the world with­out any tran­si­tions, result­ing in a nar­ra­tion that feels ran­dom and chop­py. The illus­tra­tions lack dimen­sion and move­ment, and the changes in font sizes are dis­tract­ing. So while the con­cept of this book is appeal­ing, it is inef­fec­tive at show­ing the read­er how tru­ly won­der­ful the gift of a name can be.

Read­ing Guide