Our Mothers’ Names: Love in Many Languages

How many ways are there to say mother? A bilingual child investigates in this joyful picture-book exploration from the creators of My Mother’s Tongues.

＂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.

Uma Menon was raised in Winter Park, Florida. When she was young, she could not find stories that reflected her experience in a multilingual house, so she wrote this book and My Mother’s Tongues, also illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, HuffPost, and the Progressive. She was a National YoungArts Winner for three consecutive years and is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. In addition, she was the first Youth Fellow for the International Human Rights Art Festival and an Encore Public Voices Fellow. Uma Menon has an AB in public and international affairs from Princeton University and is currently attending Yale Law School. You can find her online at www.theumamenon.com.

Rahele Jomepour Bell is the illustrator of several picture books, including My Mother’s Tongues, also by Uma Menon. She has an MFA in integrated visual arts from Iowa State University. She received an Illustration Mentorship Award from We Need Diverse Books #WNDB and both the Portfolio Award Grand Prize and the Social Media Mentorship Award for Illustrators from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Her inspirations come mostly from her childhood and Friday night family gatherings at her grandparents’ house, as well as illustrated books from around the world. She is happiest creating illustrations that send the imagination flying, offer a new look at an old idea, and reassure the viewer of their place in this world. Rahele Jomepour Bell was born in Iran and now lives in Kansas City. You can find her online at www.rahelestudio.com.