You Stole My Name: The Curious Case of Animals with Shared Names (Board Book)

by Dennis McGregor, Blue Star Press (producer)

This fun picture book for toddlers features vibrant, hand-painted illustrations of animals with curious questions like "Why does the bull trout share its name with the bull?"

You Stole My Name is a stunning collection of illustrations that takes you and your child on a colorful journey through the animal kingdom, telling the stories of the most interesting creatures and their namesakes. Written and illustrated by renowned artist Dennis McGregor, this book is also the perfect sing-along book for you and your child (Dennis sings through the book on YouTube!).

The pairs of interesting creatures

You Stole My Name is a beautiful and timeless "children's coffee-table-art book." It is the perfect picture book for children ages 3–10, making it a great birthday gift or Christmas gift.

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry, Animals, Childrens, Humor, Nonfiction, Stem

32 pages, Board Book

Published August 6, 2024

Reviews

[Hannah]

The subtitle of this book implies some level of backmatter or informational component to this text that is entirely absent. There is some nice art and some cutesy, basic af poems, which is fine, but I was really itching for some backmatter that actually talked about how and why the names came to be (or speculated, at least) or something! A disappointment.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids loved this one

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I opened my mailbox to a very fun surprise last week! Dennis McGregor sent me a beautiful copy of his book, You Stole My Name!

You Stole My Name was punished just this year and it was a new title to me. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to add this to our family's library.

This book features brief poems about pairings of animals who share a name. My favorite aspect of the book is the illustrations - they are absolutely beautiful and so realistic. McGregor is a very talented artist!

I think kids of all ages would enjoy this book. It is best suited to the preschool age group, but I think even older children will be enraptured by the artwork and this is a great book to use as an introduction to some lesser-known species to use as a springboard for deeper research. My eight year old really enjoyed paging through it and found a few animals about which she'd like to learn more.

If you have a young animal lover in your life, this book would be a great one to add to your collection! Thank you again to Dennis McGregor and Blue Star Press for sending me a copy! 💕

[Sam Yin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL book! The style of painting is just breathtaking. It's so realistic but also still suited for children, I don't know how he does it but it is my favorite book in my daughter's room and she agrees! The book itself is also sooo nice. It is a really unusual format but I love that about it because the artwork and layout deserves it and needs it. The binding and paper quality are also obviously very high standards, you can tell by the thickness and smoothness of the paper and how the pages turn easily and lie flat so nicely.

I know I'm raving, but this book is so far above anything else I've ever seen in a children's book. It really sets a new standard and raises the bar.

[Ally · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pictures in the book are amazing and show animals with the same names. Like, why does a bull trout have 'bull' in its name? The book is funny and clever, and it's great for kids from 3 to 10 years old. The author did a super job with the pictures and words. It's like a big art book with animals. Dennis (the author) also sings the book on YouTube. We watched and it was very cute.
If you want a fun gift for a birthday or Christmas, this should be on your list. We've given some to our kids friends for birthdays and both the child and their parents were obviously very happy (also the change of pace from just more toys or gift cards).

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are an absolute knock-out 10/10. Incredibly detailed and richly colored gouache illustrations fill full-bleed illustrations on half the pages of this book. The text is composed of short 4 line stanzas of poetry about animals who share names. The text is fine, but is mostly a vessel to share the remarkable illustrations. This book has a huge trim size -- it's over a foot long -- which will make it stand out on bookshelves and attract kid attention. The illustrations will help hold that attention.

[Susan Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations. Will be a winner with young kids. It is very evocation of Ellen Stern's I Saw A Bullfrog (2003), which had a different concept: what if the "compound" animal names were really chimeras of combined animals? A comparison of this book and Stern's would be mind blowing for kids.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

You Stole My Name has become a fantastic bonding experience for me and my kids.
The artwork in this book is incredible. Each illustration is a masterpiece. It ranks far above any other childrens animal picture book I've ever seen.

[Shireen Hakim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a clever and witty book, somewhat nonfiction. Kids can both learn and have fun. Some of the illustrations are exceptional, my favorite was the turkey vulture and turkey.
The book lost a star because the physical dimension is too long, it doesn't fit on any bookshelf.

[Camille]

I was first intrigued by the odd size of this book, then the title. I enjoyed reading the fun prose and the great illustrations. Each spread features two animals that share a name and a short poem. This would be fun to share at a school-aged storytime.

[Madison LibraryBookFamily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet collection of poems about animals that share the same name.
"Kangaroo Rat
You stole my name, but I don't mind, after all we're two of a kind. I like to jump and you do too. They say I even look like you."
Despite having a bull and bull frog on the cover, there is no poem for them inside.

[Dylan Teut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique. Original. Begs for conversation. Great art, short poems. I wish I had thought of it.
I learned a lot, too.

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

[J. Dashew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artwork is gorgeous, capturing animals in incredible detail. The clever questions and fun verses make learning enjoyable. It's a engaging, educational, and beautiful.

[Sylvester JM · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just given to us for my 3 year old's birthday. Absolutely STUNNING book. The artwork and layout is so well done, and is a truly enjoyable and fun read. Very creative all around.

[Aolund · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun rhyming picture book with gorgeous illustrations that compares animals with shared names.

Themes: Names, Animals, Rhyming
Age range: Toddler-Kindergarten

[Robyn T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a top 10 children's book I have ever read to my kids. They ask for it every night, I've had to hide it to get other books in the mix. Not joking.

[Jason Gunderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mix of learning and fun makes it a library must-have. The poems are enjoyable to read and encourage creative thinking.

[Bexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really cute and the pictures are amazing, though I was a little sad with some of the choices made by the artist to not fully depict some of the animals.

[Josianne Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this. The accompanying poems are nice, but the illustrations really stand out.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute concept for a book. Plus, fun pictures. A good read for kids interested in animals.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

You Stole My Name by Dennis McGregor – An adorable animal book that has cute illustrations all about nomenclature! Happy Reading!

[Ronda Canary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and entertaining!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool and awesome pictures.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations, clever.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a whimsical look at human foibles, our penchant for pareidolia. Then again, some of these connections seem really odd. While the picture shows the distinct similarities between the kangaroo and the kangaroo rat, the book doesn’t explain why a cowbird is named after the eponymous bovine.

Instead the stunning photorealistic pictures are accompanied by charming quatrains, apt commentaries about the animals in the facing pictures. Some of the images are very large so that you can see every detail, every strand of fur, stripe, wrinkle or spot. This is a gorgeous picture book filled with lovely pictures of fauna, insects, arachnids and avians. This is the kind of book that you want to keep and pass down to your offspring when they have children. It never grows old and never loses its piquant fascination.

[Hailey Vittrup · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received this book as a DRC. This is an enjoyable book to read that is filled with awesome illustrations. It would be cool to incorporate Biblical perspective into it- since it was Adam who was chosen by God to name the animals. The cleverness of the author is evident, and kids will love this book.