Your Name is a Song & Assembly of Sea Forms
Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and Assembly of Sea Forms by Barbara Hepworth
Featured Book: Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
Featured Artwork: Assembly of Sea Forms (1972) by Barbara Hepworth
In Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Kora-Jalimuso leaves her first day of school upset that no one could pronounce her name and hurt that kids at recess said her name wasn’t “real.” On their walk home, her mother teaches her that her name is a song that comes from the heart, and they begin to sing many different names from different cultures. Kora-Jalimuso then returns to school with confidence, singing her name and the names of her classmates, and helping them to see the beauty and power behind every name.
Artist Barbara Hepworth (English, 1903–1975) named her sculptures after she made them. It was only after seeing them completed that she recognized her inspiration. In Assembly of Sea Forms, she was inspired by the sea and the relationship between each marble form. She individually named each piece in the sculpture. In the back row are “Sea Mother” and “Sea King.” In the center row, are “Shell,” “Sea Form and Young” and “Rolled Sea Form," and in the front row, “Embryo” and “Sea Bird.”
Share the story of your name with a friend and celebrate your name 3 ways:
- Draw an outline of each letter in your name on a large sheet of paper and decorate it by filling it in with markers and/or collage.
- As an extension to #1, cut out each letter, flip them over and, after finding a piece of string long enough to stretch across all the letters, tape the string near the top of the letters to make a name garland to hang in your home with pride.
- Using thick paper or thin cardboard, cut out the letters of your name. Decorate them and cut one small slit on the top, bottom and sides of each letter. Then push the slits together to connect each letter and create an interlocking sculpture of your name.
If you don’t have access to the featured book, select something similar from your child’s book shelf or your local library. Many of the books are also available as read-aloud videos online.