My Name Is Elizabeth by Annika Dunklee, illustrated by Matthew Forsythe

Elizabeth really likes her name, her full name.  She likes its length, the way it feels when she says it, and also that there is a queen named after her!  But she doesn’t like it when people shorten it to things like Liz, Lizzy, or Beth.  So she announces that her name is ELIZABETH Alfreda Roxanne Carmelita Bluebell Jones.  But you can just call her Elizabeth.  Now everyone has it right, except for one little person, her younger brother.  It’s close enough when he calls her “Wizabef.”

Dunklee captures the joys and pains of having a name that can be shortened in this book.  Children with a variety of names will understand the conflict of having a name they love but that others feel free to change.  My own name, Tasha, is already a shortened version of my full name, so I choose to go by a nickname.  Only the DMV calls me by my full name.  😉

Forsythe’s illustrations give this book a distinctive feel.  He uses a limited palette of blue, orange and black.  Throughout the book, Elizabeth is accompanied by a friendly duck.  The duck is never mentioned in the text, but offers a unique vibe to the book and to the central character.  The illustrations have a vintage feel thanks to the palette, yet the colors are modern and so is the art itself. 

Highly recommended, this book will speak to boys and girls with names that they feel strongly about.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Kids Can Press.

Also reviewed by

• Fuse #8
• Quill & Quire
• A Year of Reading