When Ashanti stopped by the Essence Festival to promote her new children's book, she stayed an hour and a half longer than planned. Fans kept lining up to get their copies of _My Name

Is a Story_ signed and talk to the hit singer, 41, about their shared childhood experiences: many of them knew what it was like to be questioned about their "unique" names.

"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 tells PEOPLE about her conversations with fans. "I didn't want them to feel like that." _My Name Is a Story_ is Ashanti's

strength." _NEVER MISS A STORY — SIGN UP FOR __PEOPLE'S FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER__ TO STAY UP-TO-DATE ON THE BEST OF WHAT PEOPLE HAS TO OFFER, FROM JUICY CELEBRITY NEWS TO COMPELLING

HUMAN INTEREST STORIES._ "I didn't get bullied and beat up, but it was always maybe a little giggle, maybe a little, 'Well, why is your name like that?' " says

Ashanti, who shares that she plans on having her own children soon. (And she has some names already picked out!) "I was fortunate enough to have a mom that genuinely encouraged me and

taught me very early that my name is beautiful." Ashanti, who recently earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, has been working on a slew of projects. (Her new single "Falling

for You" will drop in a couple of weeks. She also has a film she executive produced with Cedric The Entertainer coming out at the end of the year.) _My Name Is a Story_ — which is

illustrated by Monica Mikai and was published by HarperCollins Children's Books on Tuesday — is especially close to Ashanti's heart. She says she first realized the importance of

reading when she worked at a daycare center that was run by her grandfather when she was in high school. "Sometimes the kids would be going crazy and I would be like, 'All right,

it's story time!'. I'd sit down and read a book [to them]," she says. "It was so intriguing to see how the kids got captivated by storytelling and books and

pictures." Ashanti hopes her own picture book will help little ones understand how special they are. (She notes that the book's main character looks just like her when she was 5

years old. "I had the two pigtails! I had the baby hairs!" says Ashanti, comparing the illustrations to a picture of her as a little girl.) "I want kids to feel like,

'Wow, I'm so lucky that I get to have something different that no one else has,' " says Ashanti. " 'My name is unique, and my name has a meaning.' "

The Grammy winner wants to teach her future children this same lesson. She tells PEOPLE that she plans on having a child "soon" and would like to have a couple of them.

"It's just been a lot going on these past few years. It feels like my career is re-surging," Ashanti says. "So, there's so much going on, but I'm definitely

planning on chilling soon and experiencing that." RELATED VIDEO: NEIL PATRICK HARRIS ON HIS MAGICAL NEW CHILDREN'S BOOK: "I WANTED TO HONOR THE DIFFERENCES PEOPLE HAVE"

Ashanti dreams of reading _My Name Is a Story_ to her babies. She says she wants to teach her children to be loving — and thinks they'll have a great sense of humor. "I want my

kids to have such an open mind. I want my kids to embrace everyone and be strong and be brave, and be loving and be giving," she says. "I think my kids are going to be awesome. I

think everyone's going to love my kids. They're going to be funny... They're going to be good [and] extremely well-mannered." At the end of her book's dedication,

Ashanti writes a sweet message to her "future child." "Yes! Your name will be unique and special too!" _My Name Is a Story_ is on sale now.