Singer Ashanti Hopes to Uplift Children With First Book

Photo credit: @walik1 @redcarpetimages/Instagram

After finding success as a singer, songwriter and actress — Ashanti has set her eyes on conquering the literary world.

The Grammy Award-winning singer, who has sold over 27 million records, released "My Name Is a Story" today.

Inspired by her struggles as a child, the 41-year-old artist's first outing as an author is a picture book starring her younger self that aims to instill confidence in its readers.

"I wrote this book to remind children that every name is special and deserves to be honored and celebrated," she wrote on Instagram about her reasons for writing the book.

She added, " Every name tells a story. What’s in a name? Everything! Saying each other’s names correctly is one way to value and see people fully. My hope is that MY NAME IS A STORY will be an inspiration to anyone who has been made fun of because their name was different, or had their name mispronounced or not pronounced at all."

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The star dropped by the Essence Festival of Culture earlier this month to celebrate the book launch by swapping stories with and signing copies for fans. She had so much fun that the session lasted an hour longer than intended according to reporting by PEOPLE.

"The stories were like, 'I'm so glad that you're doing this because I always felt embarrassed when it was time for the teacher to call out everyone's name and she would stutter on my name,' " Ashanti told the publication about her conversations with fans. "I didn't want them to feel like that."

The book is available to order on all major platforms now.