'Say My Name' picture book explores the importance of saying names correctly

Names reveal so much of ourselves: cultural and generational ties, tradition and power. Here & Now host Deepa Fernandes speaks with New York Times-bestselling author Joanna Ho about her latest picture book, "Say My Name," and the importance of celebrating names and pronouncing them correctly in order to form meaningful connections with people.

By Joanna Ho

My name is full of
tones and rhythms,
melodies and harmonies,
chords and cadences.
Each syllable,
each sound,
is a building block
in an architecture
constructed over oceans
and across generations.
Say my name.

Wrap your tongue around its sounds
and memorize its shapes.
Say it over
and over
and over
again
until its tones and rhythms,
its melodies and harmonies,
its chords and cadences
carve home in your mouth
and settle in your spirit.

Excerpted from "Say My Name" by Joanna Ho. Copyright © 2023 by Joanna Ho. Used with permission of the publisher, HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.