In this encouraging, reassuring picture book, National Book Award nominee Mitali Perkins invokes the Indian custom of namaste, meaning “I bow to you,” to show how little hands are capable of great love.

What’s between your hands

when you namaste the world?

Maya is only three days into summer vacation and already bored. Outside her window, the street is full of neighbors. Coming and going. Earning and spending. Fixing and mending. Everyone has something to do—everyone’s hands are busy.

Except Maya’s. When she opens her palms, they are empty. They are small.

What in the world can her hands do?

As Maya longs to do something useful alongside her neighbors—proclaim truth, stand for justice, or show mercy—she discovers that children like her can give the greatest gift of all: love.