The Name Game

Laird and Holden’s richly-coloured and busy picture book tells the story of a young girl who is bored with being inside her house all the time until the natural world and its denizens tempt her to step outside.

The story’s opening spread sees a frustrated young girl with arms folded, upside down on a sofa, surrounded by art and craft materials and a large open window beyond looking out upon flats and glimpses of the natural world. But she’s lonely; there’s no one to interact with! ‘Then comes a tap at the window’ and a confident magpie alights drawing the girl’s attention to himself and the colourful, richly-flowered outdoors. Together they play at naming the magpie (the girl settles on ‘Diamond Dodger’) and so begins a lovely back-and-forth play between the girl and various living things such as a tree, a butterfly and cat each who are gifted with a name invented by the girl.

As she continues to name and notice the natural world outside, she realises that she is no longer bored and that there is plenty to interact with: ‘My new friends are outside and they love the names I’ve given them.’ Realising that the outdoors is far more appealing and lively than indoors, she descends the stairs and heads outside. Turning the page, we find her dragging her mum along the community’s stone walkway, pointing out the wildlife and exclaiming how excited she is to see and name each thing.

In a time when many are still tentative about rejoining the world as it was before Covid-19, The Name Game is a gentle yet wise investment in the joy of being outdoors and using your imagination. Together, Laird and Holden invite the young, female protagonist and her readers to look closely at what the outdoors has to offer and notice the beautiful world around us so that we can gradually begin to reconnect with the natural world.