My Mother's Tongues: A Weaving of Languages by Uma Menon. Illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell

A young girl named Sumi is proud of her mother—a native of the province of Kerala, India, who now lives in the United States—because she has two tongues. Sumi observes, “With one tongue, she speaks Malayalam. With the other tongue, she speaks English.” Sometimes Sumi’s mother speaks a combination of both, and “the languages hop, like rabbits, from her tongue.”

Sumi is perplexed because, though her mother speaks with two tongues, it’s obvious she has only one tongue in her mouth. Sumi resolves the issue by concluding that now her mother’s tongues of Malayalam and English are “woven together like fine cloth. The seams are invisible.”

Sumi briefly narrates her mother’s immigration story and the language difficulties she encountered in the United States. Then Sumi shares her own experiences as she visits Kerala with her parents, speaking Malayalam with her relatives. Sumi, like her mother, has two tongues.

Sumi’s family helps her understand that learning and retaining a language is like working a muscle so it remains strong. Sumi’s relatives speak numerous languages, and the young girl wants to be like them: “I want to learn dozens of languages so that, one day, I can speak with people who live in every part of the world. Having a tapestry of languages will be my superpower.”

Christian parents and caregivers who share this exuberant, vividly illustrated picture book with young children might take the opportunity to talk about God’s gift of language and how followers of Jesus can welcome immigrants and refugees and encourage them as they learn to communicate in a new country and, possibly, a new language.

(Candlewick)