Yesterday I wrote about a children’s adoption book with beautiful artwork. Today I present another one.
Three Names of Me is written by Mary Cummings in the voice of her Chinese-born daughter Ada. I would judge the writing to be for ages 6-12. The illustrations are done by Chinese-American illustrator Lin Wang, who combined watercolor and colored pencil to create a style she calls “ethereal realism”. Like the illustrations in Over Land and Sea, they appear realistic and detailed, yet at the same time soft. The use of light and blended backgrounds in Three Names of Me does produce a more ethereal, dreamlike effect than the paintings in Over Land and Sea.
In poetic text that is at once happy and poignant, Ada explains that she has three names. She has her American name that she uses most of the time. This includes her first name, which her adoptive parents Americanized from two Chinese words meaning “love arrives”; her middle name, shared with dear relatives; and the last name which links her mother, her father and herself.
However, Ada also shares that she also has not only has a Chinese name given her at the orphanage, which means “refined princess”, but also another name that she does not know, a name which was whispered to her by her first mother, who held her close before having to leave her at the orphanage.
For special projects, Ada writes all of her names: a heart for the first name meaning “love”, smiles for the name she shares with two grandmothers, a crown for the Chinese name meaning “princess”, and a drawing of her parents and herself for her last name. Then she adds a star, “for the name I only heard once, the name before my remembering…my first name is a bright red star wrapped in my heart…red is the color of happiness in the land where I was born.”
This gentle book is packed full of deep musings, inviting parent and child to reflect on many themes. The paintings of the birthmother, Chinese citizens on the street, and caretakers at the orphanage portray loving concern. There are paintings of things Ada loves, many of which come from China. She is thankful for her birthmother. She is proud to be both a Chinese girl and an American girl. She plays soccer and walks to school surrounded by friends. She has a weekly popcorn and games night with her family. She likes carnivals. She does not like it when her family is stared at because they don’t “match”. She wonders if her birth family thinks of her when they look up at the stars which they all see.
The last pages of the book are from Ada’s scrapbook. The artwork here changes to bright colors. Ada lists her favorite things, friends and foods. She writes that she wants to be a marine biologist. She explains the Chinese characters in her first name. She lists things she likes that are Chinese– “ME!” is first on that list—and things she wants to see if she goes to China someday. She lists “What I Think Would Have Been Different about my Life If I’d Grown Up in China” (school would be harder, the writing harder to learn; it would be crowded, and most people would look like her). Ada shares some ideas about scrapbooking, journaling, and learning more about China and encourages the reader to make a scrapbook “any way you want”!
Please see these related blogs:
Children’s Books on Adoption from China
Naming, Claiming, and Letting Go