Summary
Namaste means “I bow to you”. A little girl in a busy city, she sees that Namaste is a way to greet others, but also a way to spread peace and love. As the days progress, she observes her elderly neighbor and decides to give her neighbor a small plant, as an act of kindness, to help her healing and to offer comfort and create a bond between the two.
Theme(s):
Community, Love, Culture
Personal Response
This book was very enjoyable to read. The illustrations and words caused me to feel a sense of warmth and kindness. Subramaniam wrote “Namaste calms your heart when things aren’t going right. Namaste is saying “You matter.”which I loved as it shows the universal meaning of the word. I would read this book to support my students with learning about Indian culture, and this word. I would use this book during Morning Meeting to teach students a new way to greet each other with meaning.
Teaching Ideas
This book is a great resource to use when teaching students new ways to greet each other. This book would also be great for teaching students about meaningful words in languages, students could explore other languages and create a word bank or vocabulary list throughout the school year. They could compare the list of words, to known words in English and see what they have in common, or if they have similar meaning/connotation.
Recommended Reading Level
Birth-PreK, Grade 01, Grade 02, Grade 03, Grade 04
