Book Bag
The Forest Keeper: The True Story of Jadav Payeng
Author
Illustrator
Ishita Jain
Publication Date
April 18, 2023
Genre / Grade Band
Non-fiction / 2nd − 3rd
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Description
Trees don’t grow on sandbars . . . but a boy from India grew a forest.
What can one person do in the face of global environmental degradation? Indian Jadav Payeng has proven that each and every one of us can make a difference.
As a boy, he began planting trees on a sandbank in the state of Assam. Nobody believed that he would succeed in doing so. But since 1979, a forest the size of Central Park has emerged, offering a home to countless animals and plants. It was not until 2007 that a photographer accidentally discovered the forest and made Payeng known to the world beyond India.
Rina Singh has sensitively retraced the story of young Jadav. In Ishita Jain's picture book debut as illustrator, readers feel immersed in the spectacular habitat whose existence borders on a miracle come true.
Publication date
April 18, 2023
Classification
Non-fiction
Page Count
-
ISBN-13
9780735845053
Lexile Measure
750
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Northsouth Books
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF007050 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Cultural Heritage
JNF037040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Trees & Forests
JNF037040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Trees & Forests
Library of Congress categories
-
ALA/Booklist
Showing what one person with limited resources can do to restore the environment, the story celebrates Payeng’s vision and determination.
Kirkus
An underwhelming account of a compelling conservationist.
None
An inspiring true story of an environmental activist whose important work began in his teens and spanned a lifetime.
Publishers Weekly
Singh inspires with this biography of Jadav Payeng (b. 1959), who since 1979 has planted and sustained a forest on a river-adjacent sandbar in northeast India. As a youth, Payeng witnesses the death of hundreds of water snakes after they wash ashore and, without shade, bake beneath the sun: "Jadav, a tribal boy, raced to the edge of his river island and stood speechless." Unable to interest elders or the forest department in reforestation efforts, the determined 16-year-old begins solo daily outings to plant bamboo. Cause-and-effect text and layered crayon- and wash-like textures chart the course of Payeng's work tracking diversifying plant life as well as the arrival of first birds and then fauna. The presence of elephants brings problems to a nearby village, but Payeng's savvy stewardship generates the balanced ecosystem the pachyderms require--a happy ending for a still-developing story about "the Forest Man of India." Notes offer context about the figure and the forest. Ages 5-9. (Apr.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission. Rina Singh
Rina Singh was born in a small town in India, moved to Canada, and now lives in Toronto. She is a former schoolteacher and is now a full-time children's book author. The Lion Queen is her first book with Cameron Kids.
Tara Anand is an illustrator and visual artist from Bombay, India. The Lion Queen is her first book with Cameron Kids. She lives in New York.
Tara Anand is an illustrator and visual artist from Bombay, India. The Lion Queen is her first book with Cameron Kids. She lives in New York.
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