Nadia's Hands

English, Karen. Nadia's Hands. Illus. Jonathan Weiner. Honesday, Pennsylvania: Caroline House, 1999.

Nadia is excited to be chosen as the flower girl for her Aunt Laila's wedding, but she worries about the Henna used to decorate her hands which will not wash off in time for school on Monday morning. The mehndi designs on her hands are an important part of a traditional Pakistani wedding, and they make her Grandma and her aunts happy, but when Nadia looks down at her hands all she can think is that they don't look like her hands anymore. And they certainly don't look like anyone else's hands in her class. The richly textured illustrations in oil pastel take the reader through the preparations and ceremony of a traditional Pakistani wedding, and follow Nadia's journey from fear and worry to acceptance and pride. The mehndi designs are mirrored in the accent decorations on the white pages facing the main illustrations.