The introduction to names begins with the biblical David, who, as a young boy, was called Son by his father and Useless by his brothers, but grew up to be called Your Majesty by his subjects. This beginning is contrived and a little confusing (incorporating such contemporary phrases as "the kids on the block called him Red"), but the text gels nicely when it moves into its short discussion of how God named Adam, and Adam named the animals. A sampling of names from around the world doesn't convey much information, but a transition back to a boy of today named David works to show the importance of names. An afterword explains Jewish naming customs, and it's too bad more of this information wasn't incorporated into the text. The book gets a lift from the solid artwork, in which the characters have the look of carved wooden figures. The artwork's child appeal comes from links between pictures of the past and those of the present. By A.S. Gadot