Christopher Changes His Name

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Young Christopher hates his name. It is such a common moniker that there
are four Christophers in his class, 11 in his school, and probably
millions around the world. One day his Aunt Gail tells him about a
special man she knew back in Trinidad and Tobago, who was so strong and
brave everyone called him Tiger. Christopher decides to change his name
to Tiger. At school he learns about a brilliant Canadian inventor named
Elijah McCoy and decides to change his name from Tiger to McCoy. Not too
long after this, a special birthday present comes from his grandmother,
but it is addressed to Christopher Mulamba. To his horror, the boy who
was formerly known as Christopher cannot collect his present until he
can find a way to prove his name is really Christopher.

This is writer Itah Sadu’s second book about the irrepressible young
Christopher Mulamba. As in her first, the young lad’s own
idiosyncrasies end up teaching him a lesson about himself. In this
fast-flowing tale, Sadu manages to combine a lot of humor with a little
Canadian history to produce a lighthearted yet meaningful tale. Because
Roy Condy’s illustrations are rendered in the slapstick style of a
Saturday morning cartoon, it has an automatic appeal for most young
readers. Highly recommended.