Published: 18th August 2021 
Publisher: Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing
Illustrator: Michelle Pereira
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars
When Zimdalamishkermishkada starts a new school, he knows he’s got to do something about his long name.
When no amount of shrinking, folding or crumpling works, he simply settles for Zim—but deep down, it doesn’t feel right. It’s not until a new friend sees him for who he truly is that Zimdalamishkermishkada finds the confidence to step boldly into his long name.
A warm and uplifting picture book that encourages young readers to celebrate their individuality, and shows how no-one should ever have to shrink themselves down to fit in.
This is a wonderful book. It is sweet and lovely but at the same time has an important story about being your true self.
The story is filled with metaphors but they don’t distract from the story instead it allows you to see similarities, something helpful for younger readers who might understand the reference better. The comparison of practising skateboard and slowly learning the name is beautiful and while it would be easier for people to have a short name (easier for who I would argue), it is unfair to make people change who they are to make things simpler for other people.
The illustrations are a great mixture of muted colours without making it dull and lifeless. Pereira does a wonderful job illustrating each page so we see a visual of what is happening with the story and see the progression of learning Zim’s real name.
The book is told compassionately and with no judgement which is excellent. There is no criticism of not being able to pronounce Zimdalamishkermishkada instead it becomes a place to learn.
You can purchase The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name via the following
QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository
The sequel to Once & Future that featured in last year’s list and it did not disappoint. It picks up after book one and takes you on another amazing adventure that is full of mythology, space, love, action and adventure and honestly every time I think about the world and narrative Capetta and McCarthy have created I am in awe of their talent. If you love the Arthurian legend and want all kinds of diverse representation and a kick-arse story than you MUST pick up this series but you also have to start with book one.
I ADORED this story. Absolutely adored it. Oseman tells a beautiful story about growing up, self discovery and finding your place in the world and it’s filled with a range of characters that are delightful to get to know.
I love the entirety of The Adventure Zone podcast but this was also my least loved arcs so I was surprised to see how much I loved the graphic novel. I mean I still loved it, but it never stuck with my the ways the others did. But seeing it visually play out reignited my admiration for Griffin’s storytelling and Clint’s ability to convert an audio into a visual medium. The memorable, quotable moments are there and it’s another step in this journey we’re going on with this little band of misadventurers and I can’t wait to keep going.
It’s been 84 years but I’ve finally returned to my blog. This isn’t even my first post back because the 
