When I was without a name…

Written by Cheryl Joshi

Just lose yours for a day and you will know. That’s what I and my sister went through and realized that our names are as special as us.

One day, only recently when all we were supposed to do was to study for our exams (over now), we were delighted to receive a package and were very excited but when mamma opened it,  I and my sister just exchanged looks. I had thought my mother had ordered some gifts like a dress or maybe a surprise from my father but it was another book! The course books were more than enough for now and we didn’t need more books at least not during our exams.

But a second glance and the books looked very interesting. A lovely looking girl on the cover and an unusual title – I thought of flipping through the pages with Dabi. Yeah, that was a cute little buddy (hand puppet) you get with the book. Now it would not be wrong to say that Dabi actually looked more interesting initially with its wonderful color combination of bright yellow and red.

As I flipped through the book I noticed it was a lot of pictures and to my utter surprise, the book was based on me. The book talks about how I forget what my name is and then how I meet friends like a cat, hippopotamus, chimpanzee, reindeer, monkey and a man with a huge, wobbly belly help me find the letters of my name,  on my journey Dabi is with me all along and helps me on my adventure.

The entire story reads like one big poem with words rhyming making it easy to read and may be one day I could sing with Dabi. I was so thrilled to find out that Dabi has a birthday as well and celebrates her birthday on 1^st January, I know because there is a tag on the inside.

The pictures and the easy reading style kept me and my sister hooked till the end.  Well, she had her own name to look for so she got her own book rather a treasure hunt game. That’s what both of us decided to call this book – our own treasure hunts.

I showed this book to my grandparents and they were happy too and said that both of us should treasure this book because it is special and one of a kind. True that no one will have a book that has the same story as mine.

Mom Speaks:

I read both the books and was as excited as the kids to see such a wonderful and easy storytelling style with great illustrations. You can even have a customized message for your kid on the first page and that makes it even more special and an amazing gift which you would definitely want your kid to have. More recently, I got to know that you could also have your kids’ picture in the book, however, when I ordered these books you could only have your personalized messages. I would also like to add that the animals that help the girls get to their names give the message that we should love and respect all creatures made by God and be kind to everyone for every living being has feelings.

You could have your own customized copy of Oh! My Name, that is if you lose your name one day.