A sumptuously illustrated picture book account of the inspiring achievements of Jadav Payeng describes how he worked to reverse the destructive forces of erosion and deforestation in India's Brahmaputra River region by starting what became a 1,300-acre forest filled with native plants and animals. Simultaneous eBook. - (Baker & Taylor)

Describes how Jadav Payeng worked to reverse the destructive forces of erosion and deforestation in India's Brahmaputra River region by starting what became a 1,300-acre forest filled with native plants and animals. - (Baker & Taylor)

As a boy, Jadav Payeng was distressed by the destruction deforestation and erosion was causing on his island home in India's Brahmaputra River. So he began planting trees. What began as a small thicket of bamboo, grew over the years into 1,300 acre forest filled with native plants and animals. The Boy Who Grew a Forest tells the inspiring true story of Payeng. - (Cherry Lake Publishing)

2020 Green Earth Book Award Long list2020 Crystal Kite Awards - Southeast Division Winner2020-2021 Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award ListNotable Social Studies Trade Books list – Winning Title! 2019 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award - Winning TitleFlorida Book Award Gold Winner Recipient of the 2019 Eureka! Honors AwardWinner -Best of 2019 Kids Books - Most Inspiring CategoryAs a boy, Jadav Payeng was distressed by the destruction deforestation and erosion was causing on his island home in India's Brahmaputra River. So he began planting trees. What began as a small thicket of bamboo, grew over the years into 1,300 acre forest filled with native plants and animals. The Boy Who Grew a Forest tells the inspiring true story of Payeng--and reminds us all of the difference a single person with a big idea can make. - (Cherry Lake Publishing)

Booklist Reviews

Adding to a growing corpus of biographies of unsung heroes, this timely tale highlights the connection between people and the environment. As a young boy, Jadav Payeng noticed that the sandbars around the river island on which he and his family lived were rapidly shrinking, leaving animals stranded and dying. He sought the wisdom of the village elders, who told him that the only way to help the animals was to build them new homes. They gave him 20 bamboo saplings to plant. Now, 40 years later, he is known as "The Forest Man of India" and his efforts have resulted in the rejuvenation of acres of forests, home to elephants and tigers and countless other creatures. Payeng's story is eloquently told and beautifully illustrated. It will inspire readers to recognize the power of individual determination and can be paired with Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees (2015), by Franck Prévot, and The Secret Kingdom: Nek Chand, a Changing India, and a Hidden World of Art (2018), by Barb Rosenstock. Grades K-3. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

As a teenager in 1979 northern India, Jadav Payeng was concerned that many snakes died after flood damage to the eroding Brahmaputra River region. He planted twenty bamboo saplings...and ended up many years later with a protected 1300-acre forest teeming with animals. Hopeful and inspiring, this true-life ecological story is illustrated with evocative, verdant art. Appended with endnotes and a planting project. Copyright 2019 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

The true story of a young boy who built a forest from the ground up in northeastern India. Inspired by the documentary Forest Man, debut author Gholz pens the story of Jadav Payeng. The story begins with the erosive impact of seasonal floodwaters on his island home, which propels Jadav to take action. A group of elders give him 20 bamboo seedlings to plant. He plants them and waters them every day, devising various methods of irrigation, and over time, his hard work pays off and a forest grows. Animals come back, but with them come threats. However, Jadav inventively copes and continues to protect the forest. While the relative absence of the community throughout Jadav's endeavors is somewhat startling, the story provides young children with a real-life example of the connections between man and nature. Gholz refers to Jadav throughout the book only as "the boy" or "the man," which has a distancing effect. The depictions of Jadav himself as a child are similarly generic, wher eas those of him as an adult are reasonably accurate to photographs. Moreover, facts indicate that Jadav was 16 when he started planting the trees, but the book shows him as a much younger child. The illustrations overall are detailed and engaging, however, with beautiful imagery of the islands and the forest. Backmatter provides further information, a glossary, and tips on planting a forest. An insightful if imperfect story of environmental success. (Picture book/biography. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 1–5—"In India, on a large river island, among farms and families hard at work, there lived a boy who loved trees." Prompted by the alarming death of hundreds of snakes stranded on a barren sandbar when he was just a boy, Jadav went to the elders of his village. They explained that the floodwaters cause erosion, which gradually shrinks the island, leaving animals homeless and stranded, like the snakes. The village gave young Jadav 20 bamboo saplings to plant. Not only did he plant the trees, he also devised a watering system and created richer soil, eventually planting more than 1,300 acres of trees. Soon, birds, snakes, rhinos, and elephants returned. When tigers appeared, threatening the villagers, Jadav planted more grasses to attract small animals to appease them. When elephants ventured onto village farms to eat their crops, he planted fruit trees to satisfy them. His understanding of ecology and human responsibility make him a hero. His decision to make a difference as a child will empower young readers. An author's note, glossary, and instructions on planting are included. Lush, realistic illustrations document young Jadav's sadness, fear, determination, and eventual success as readers watch the barren, disintegrating island transform into a living forest supporting all manners of life. VERDICT An inspirational read-aloud for units on plants, the environment, or Earth Day.—Barbara Auerbach, Cairo Public Library, NY

Beginning of TextAbout the AuthorAuthor's NotePlant a Forest of Your Own