The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name - Sandhya Parappukkaran - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Sandhya Parappukkaran

ILLUSTRATOR: Michelle Pereira

GENRE: Children's Picture Book.

PUBLICATION DATE: August 18, 2021

RATING: 4 stars.

A sweet story with a thought-provoking moral.

Zimdalamashkermishkada is a little boy with a huge name. This lengthy name “trips him up every morning, like shoelaces that have come undone.” As he begins at a new school, he struggles to fold his name, halve his name, cut his name, shrink his name, all to no avail – his name bounces back bigger and stronger than ever. However, when his mom explains to him the significance of his name, he realises that he should accept it rather than suppress its size and begins the task of letting his best friend Elly know that he isn’t Zim but Zimdalamashkermishkada.

I loved the concept of the story. It reminded me somewhat of “The Name Jar” by Yangsook Choi, which also has an Asian child struggling with their name. The racial identity of the boy isn’t revealed but it is clear from the illustrations and a part of the content (such as their food habits) that he is of South-Asian heritage. The story is supposed to be set in Australia but this again is something I discovered through the author’s interview and not through the book. The lack of specific location references make the book globally valid.

There are plenty of themes that shine through the content, but the most important one is that of acceptance, both of oneself as well as of one’s friends’ identities. In a global world where national and cultural divisions are diminishing with migrations for better prospects or safety, such books are highly relevant.

The illustrations were nice. I loved how they didn’t fit to stereotypical forms but stuck to more realistic human shapes. My favourite part was the idea of representing the XXL-sized name in an objectified form such as a ball of string or a puffer fish or a ream of paper. This matches the content well and also serves as a visual representation of what’s being said. Very useful for little readers. I would have appreciated a brighter colour palette but put that down to my preferences than as a shortcoming of the book.

The language level of the book is pretty manageable and the book will be perfect for readers aged 4-8.

Why I am not going higher with my rating is that I feel there are a couple of aspects the content could have covered better.

👉 The made-up name that is used in this case, Zimdalamashkermishkada, is actually very long. I have many friends who use a shorter version of their names not because they are ashamed of the full-length version but because it is convenient. (Imagine calling someone “Zimdalamashkermishkada” every time you are speaking with them!) So there’s nothing wrong with “shrinking” your name, as long as you are doing it for the right reasons.

👉 Some names are genuinely difficult for people of other cultures to pronounce – having a shorter version shouldn’t be seen as a cop-out as long as it is the one accepted by the holder of the name.

👉 I don’t know why a made-up name was used. There are enough long names in South-Asian culture and I would have appreciated one of them being incorporated than a concocted one.

Still, the misgivings are minor. This is a good book with a good message.

My thanks to Abrams Books and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.