I feel like The Name Jar is an important book in helping children understand that names are special and even though they are different, they are very important. In this story, a girl by the name of Unhei realizes her Korean name is different than the other American children's names when they are unable to pronounce it correctly. They agree to help her come up with an American name by putting ideas in "the name jar" and allowing her to choose whichever one she wants.
My favorite line in the story is "You are different, Unhei. That's a good thing!" Her mother is trying to express the fact that being different is okay. This is important for Unhei to understand so she will be proud of her name and the reasons why she was named Unhei and not worry about changing it to satisfy others. I also loved how she in the end was proud of her name and the meaning behind it which was "Grace". To all the children's surprise, they found out that both American and Korean's childrens names can have some special meaning behind them! This broke the barrier of anyone thinking that her name was weird or out of place, but helped them all realize that their names were all unique and acceptable. They even went a step futher to each student wanting a Korean nickname.
This is a touching story about young children learning acceptance and individuality and that being different is okay. I think this is an excellent book and plan to definitely use this in my classroom.
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