Nima Sherpa lives in Nepal at the top of the world, where the tallest mountain on earth, Chomolongma-the mountain we call Everest-towers above the clouds. Nima has promised her father, a mountain guide, that she will find a way to help make the world a better place. Every day, on the long walk to the market village where she goes to school, Nima meets porters and caravans carrying their goods to market, travelers trekking to their next lodge, and monks on their way to their monastery. After school, she meets her friend Tenzing, an old Tibetan trader, who shares some honey with her at the market place. Whenever Nima sees someone, she brings her hands together with her fingers almost touching her chin, bows her head slightly, and says Namaste -the light in me meets the light in you. Her mother tells her, When you say ‘Namaste,’ try to see the special spark of light that shines within every person’s heart. In Namaste! Nima learns that she brightens the day for friends and strangers alike when she shares her sweetness and light, every time she says Namaste.
Woven into this simple, gentle story about recognizing and honoring the sacred in one another are delightful details of daily life in Nepal. Namaste! is lusciously illustrated by artist Amy Cordova, with a glossary of terms at the end of the book, and an informative afterword by Ang Rita Sherpa of The Mountain Institute.