Hey Reader, What happens when your name becomes a reason you have to stand up for yourself? Many of us grew up with names that teachers mispronounced and kids teased. When I was nine years old, we moved to the United States, and when I was pushed into this classroom to introduce myself, I immediately knew I couldn't trust that room with my name: Ifeoluwa. I knew the kids (AND my teacher) were not going to get it right. So I changed the first name I went by that day. That’s actually how Luvvie came to be (well, first Lovette, which then became Luvvie). And even my simple last name (Ajayi) still puts people in a chokehold. 😒 A lifetime of having to correct people led me to writing my latest children’s book:
It’s a book where our girl, Little Luvvie, lets it be known that she doesn’t play about her name. And I wrote it to get to the babies now, letting them know: YOUR NAME IS WORTH DEFENDING. And, honestly, it’s for us adults who have never been told that. Your name is worth defending. And when people make mistakes with it, correct them over and over again 😤. What would have happened if I felt seen and heard earlier in my life, in the moments when I felt my feelings hurt over my name? So many of us have all these inner child things that started back then. This book is dedicated to those of us whose names were not on the mugs or the keychains growing up. It's dedicated to the Ifeoluwas, the Bozomas, the LaKeyshas, the Alencias, the Jovians. It's dedicated to everybody whose name people have ever felt like has been too burdensome. Honestly, this book is for me. The one who, when her name was made fun of, would just cry on her lunch, quietly in the bathroom 😭. The one who didn't have the good comebacks back then. The one who needed to hear, “Your name is amazing. And they owe it to you to say it full chested. And you owe it to yourself to say it with pride.”
And I CANNOT WAIT for it to drop into the world on May 6, 2025. And for your little ones (and you) to get it and get back to Little Luvvie’s adventures. I even love this book more than Little Troublemaker Makes a Mess (and I LOVED that one). Like the first one is lit, but Little Troublemaker Defends Her Name? 🥹🥹🥹 Writing it really soothed my soul. So today, I’m asking you to take this action: buy TWO copies of Little Troublemaker Defends Her Name. One for a kid you love, and one extra one (cuz that one might end up being for you).
