Nadia's Hands
Author:
Karen English
Grade Level: 1-3
Rating: 4 stars
Subject- cultural identity
This book, Nadia's Hands, is a tale of Nadia, a young Pakistani, Muslim girl
who is chosen to be the Flower Girl at her Auntie's wedding. As an important part of the wedding, Nadia has to have her hands
designed in an ornate decorative art called Mehndi.
Mehndi is a series of beautiful lines and shapes drawn in henna on the
hands and sometimes feet of women in Pakistani and Middle Eastern culture. Nadia is nervous about having been chosen to be the Flower Girl and having
to walk down the aisle at her Auntie's wedding celebration. She is even more nervous about showing up to school with the
Mehndi on her hands and what non-Pakistani kids will say to her when they notice her henna designs.
Will Nadia get the Mehndi done on her hands? Will she make a good Flower
Girl at her Auntie's wedding? How will Nadia deal with her non-Pakistani classmates when they ask her about her hands?
This is a wonderful story about being proud of one's cultural identity.
Children will relate to Nadia's dilemma and think about their own cultural roots. The artwork done by Jonathan Weiner for this book is quiet
beautiful, colorful, and will hold the child's attention. The only flaw of this book is the fact that Islam is not really represented except by a few
words and the characters' names. The female characters are not wearing the traditional Islamic
hijab, and Islamic issues are not prominent in the
story. However, cultural issues are well defined and Nadia is a very likable character that children will relate to.
This is a good book for small children who have discovered or are
discovering what makes their culture different from the western society that they are living in here in the U.S.
Reviewed by Sr. Johanna El Attar
