Our Mothers’ Names: Love in Many Languages
Written by Uma Menon
Illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell
Published by Candlewick
How many ways are there to say mother?
“Thank you, Amma,” says the child as her mother praises a birdhouse she’s making with her friend Angelina. With two languages spoken at home, English and Malayalam (the most common language in Kerala, India, where her parents and grandparents were born), Amma is a word the child uses for her Indian-American mom. But Angelina, whose family is from Mexico City, says that her mother is called Mamá. And there are so many other names for mother! Thea’s mother is Greek and known as Mana. Francisco’s family is from Brazil, where moms answer to Mãe. Aliya is fluent in Arabic, whose word for mother is Umma. . . .
With just a peek at the many ways to say mother among the world’s thousands of languages, the author and illustrator behind My Mother’s Tongues have fashioned another love letter to family bonds and heritage, another salute to multilingualism for a world that grows smaller and more connected day by day.
Primary ISBN: 9781536222500
Publication Date: April 2025
Available As: Hardcover, eBook
Picture Book, Age 04 or older
Community Represented: Indian/Indian American, Various
Themes: Cross-Group Friendship, Cultural Empowerment, Cultural Empowerment & Joy: Family, Cultural Empowerment & Joy: Identity, Family Relationship: Parents, Generation: 1st, Identity: Multilingual, Multilingual: Multilingual Featured Words, Own Voices/Lived Experience
Setting: United States
Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: 1st Generation
Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience
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