Kerley offers beautiful images of harmony and love from around the world. “All it takes is one hand,” the economical text begins, next to a picture of a dark-skinned hand holding a yellow flower. Readers should be able to immediately identify the evocative photographs with National Geographic. There are boys playing on a beach in Guadeloupe, choir members creating a joyful noise in Louisiana, Buddhist monks performing a whirling meditative dance in Bhutan (this is an overhead shot), a young girl in the Mekong Delta flashing a peace sign, etc. Short phrases thread the images into a global tapestry. Educational bonus at the end: A two-page spread features a map of the world with the locations of the pictures identified, as well as thumbnail descriptions of each picture’s locale. Then an essay, from the president of the United States Institute of Peace, Richard Solomon, makes a plea aimed at educators. At 1,000 words per picture, it’s a weighty little tome. (Picture book. 4-10)
