My Mother's Tongues

Written by a 16-year-old author, this richly textured picture book is a moving celebration of immigrant multilingualism: languages “woven together like fine cloth” until “the seams are invisible”. – Imogen Russell Williams * The Guardian *
This celebration of learning and using new languages is superb, showing how it helps overcome differences and borders of all kinds as we connect with people from all over the world. Using canvas backgrounds and quilted textures, Jomepour Bell emphasizes the weaving theme of Uma Menon’s lyrical text in this illuminating book. * Red Reading Hub *
It was a real treat to read Uma Menon’s My Mother’s Tongues: A Weaving of Languages which celebrates the richness of being able to speak different languages – and appreciate the cultures from which they originate. * The Letterpress Project *
This book is a lyrical love letter to mixed cultural identities, demonstrating how languages can both deepen and expand people’s abilities to connect to each other, and to their own heritage. * Children’s Books Ireland *

Uma Menon was born in 2003 and raised in Winter Park, Florida. Growing up, she could not find stories that reflected her experience in a multilingual house, so she wrote this at age sixteen. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, and the Progressive. She was a National Young Arts Winner for three consecutive years and has been nominated thrice for the Pushcart Prize. Uma Menon was the first Youth Fellow for the International Human Rights Art Festival and an Encore Public Voices Fellow. She studies international affairs and creative writing at Princeton University.

Rahele Jomepour Bell is an Iranian-American picture book creator and graduated from Iowa State University with an MFA in integrated visual arts. She received an Illustration Mentorship Award from We Need Diverse Books and was awarded both the Portfolio Award Grand Prize and the Social Media Mentorship Award for Illustrators at the SCBWI National Conference. Her inspiration comes mostly from her childhood and Friday night family gatherings at her grandparents’ house and illustrated books from around the world. She is happiest creating illustrations that send the imagination flying, offer a new look at an old idea, and reassure the viewer of their place in this world.

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