Last night, Katherine and I finally read the amazing, My Name is Elizabeth, by Annika Dunklee. I have been wanting to read this title for ages and am so glad we finally got to it. The story is wonderful. A young Elizabeth absolutely does not want to be Liz, Beth or Betsy and in fact, will answer to none of these names.

But my true  love of the book came when we got to this illustration:

Matthew Forsythe, a brilliant illustrator, has shown Elizabeth’s mouth making each of the sounds in her name. Now, as a speech therapist and reading specialist I absolutely, positively started doing a happy dance right then and there on Katherine’s bed.

My Name is Elizabeth will now be my go to book for showing clients how sounds feel in their mouths. For many struggling readers, this is the step that is needed for them turn letters from a clump of lines and spaces to a word.

My Name is Elizabeth is in my tutoring bag right now. Hopefully Elizabeth will help a little girl this very morning…