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Jadav and the Tree-Place

After finding snakes stranded on a hot riverbank, Jadav starts planting bamboo. Patient work transforms the bare sand into a forest full of life.

Suggested age: 7–12岁 · Reading level L3 · 21 illustrated pages

Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 1, English text included

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After finding snakes stranded on a hot riverbank, Jadav starts planting bamboo. Patient work transforms the bare sand into a forest full of life.

Shared-reading note: A fictionalized picture-book telling inspired by Jadav Payeng, rather than a literal account of every event. Includes distressed and dying snakes; discuss observing wildlife safely.

Read all 21 story pages
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 1, English text included
Jadav and the Tree-Place
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 2, English text included
This is Jadav, a tree-planter. He loves tree-places because they are full of life. No-tree-places make him terribly sad, because they are full of dead things.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 3, English text included
Years ago, Jadav was walking along the banks of the great Brahmaputra River when he arrived at a big, empty no- tree-place. It was dry and hot. The sand was powdery and striped.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 4, English text included
Striped sand? How odd. Jadav went closer to take a better look. Oh, but they weren't stripes at all! The ground was covered in snakes! Last night’s floods must have washed them ashore, Jadav thought.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 5, English text included
These snakes weren't slinking and slithering and swaying about like regular, healthy snakes. When Jadav walked among them, they didn't hiss or run away or try to bite him. They just lay about like old ropes, tired and still. "Poor snakes! They're dying from the heat! If only they had some shade to lie in! If only this no-tree-place had some trees in it!"
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 6, English text included
Jadav couldn't bear to watch the snakes die. It made him so terribly sad that he sat down and began to cry. But he quickly came to his senses. "No more crying. From now on: only trying!" He jumped up, ran back to his village and began collecting all the bamboo shoots he could carry in his bag. "Regular plants won't grow in the hot sand, but bamboo will. Bamboo is strong!"
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 7, English text included
Jadav brought the shoots to the no-tree-place and started planting them everywhere. It was hard, hot work, and it took years. The river grew thin one summer and flooded the next, sometimes bringing more sand and sometimes taking it away. Heavy rains came and went. But Jadav kept on planting.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 8, English text included
In time, the bamboo took root and began to grow. As it grew, it brought shade, and the shade brought insects. The insects burrowed into the ground, and the earth below the bamboo trees began to change. The dry and white became rich and brown, and the dead sand became living soil.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 9, English text included
Jadav was no longer sad. But he wasn't happy either. He looked around his bamboo grove and thought, "A few-trees-place is nice, I know. But how wonderful it would be if this were a many-trees-place!" The idea thrilled him. So Jadav went back to his village and began collecting many more seeds and saplings. He filled three big bags with Arjun and ejar and gulmohar and koroi and moj and himolu. "Now that our few-trees-place has lovely brown soil, we can plant all these and more!"
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 10, English text included
Jadav brought his new saplings and seeds to the few-trees-place and planted them all around. It was hard work, his back hurt, and it took many years. The orange and blue skies turned purple and pink, and villages became towns. The wind grew laden with dust, and the river became grey. But Jadav's insect friends helped to till the soil, and his tall bamboos gave him shade and cooled the air. And Jadav kept on planting.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 11, English text included
Soon, his Arjun, ejar and gulmohar, his koroi, moj and himolu, and all his many other plants dug in, took root and started growing. As they grew, they spread new seeds, and the new seeds, in turn, took root. Shoots became trunks, trunks grew branches, and the branches reached for the sky.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 12, English text included
The few-trees-place that was once a no-tree-place now became a wonderful, green many-trees-place. But what's a many-trees-place without many tree-creatures? When one came, the others followed.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 13, English text included
First, came the birds. They flocked and flew in from near and far, to make their nests in Jadav's tree-place. There were vultures and pelicans and storks and ducks. And warblers and thrushes and wagtails and chats.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 14, English text included
Next, came the animals. They skipped and swung and sauntered in, to make their homes in the many-trees-place. There were buffaloes and deer and rabbits and gibbons. And elephants and tigers and rhinos.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 15, English text included
Finally, there came the snakes. They slithered and swayed and sashayed in, to cool themselves in the shade of Jadav's trees. When Jadav saw the snakes, he sat down and cried happy tears. He was so happy that he wasn't even afraid of getting bitten.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 16, English text included
Jadav's tree-place had filled with feathers and beaks and wings, with claws and tails and fangs. There were spots and splashes, stripes and flashes, and green, green, everywhere. The tree-place was a forest, at last. And Jadav was a happy man.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 17, English text included
Then Jadav had another thought. "Many trees in one place is good, I know. But how wonderful it'd be if there were many trees in every place!" So he grabbed his bags of seeds and started walking across the world. And as he walked, Jadav started planting the seeds in all the no-tree-places he saw. And he planted. And planted. And planted. But there are so many no-tree-places in the world. There are more no-tree-places than tree-places now. This is terribly sad, but Jadav does not sit down and cry this time.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 18, English text included
Jadav plants.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 19, English text included
And plants. And plants some more.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 20, English text included
It’s going to be hard work, bringing all the old forests back. The seas have begun rising, and the winds grow cold. Towns have become cities, and Jadav is growing old. But he keeps on planting. And planting. And planting.
Jadav and the Tree-Place — original illustrated page 21, English text included
Jadav will keep on planting until the whole world is a happy, lovely lots-of-trees-place.

Creators and open license

Written by
Vinayak Varma
Illustrated by
Vinayak Varma
Created by
Vinayak Varma (author); Vinayak Varma (illustrator)
Full source attribution and license notices
This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories ​‐ provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link . Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions Some rights reserved. This book is CC ​ -BY ​ -4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The development of this book has been supported by Oracle Giving Initiative. Story Attribution: This story: Jadav and the Tree-Place is written by Vinayak Varma . © Pratham Books , 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Other Credits: This book was first published on StoryWeaver, Pratham Books. The development of this book has been supported by Oracle Giving Initiative. This book was created for StoryWeaver, Pratham Books, with the support of Bijal Vachharajani (Guest Editor). Illustration Attributions: Cover page: Jadav hugging a tree , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 2: Jadav in a forest , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 3: Jadav on a sandbar by the Brahmaputra river , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 4: Snakes on a sandbar , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 5: Snakes in the sun , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 6: Jadav crying , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 7: Jadav planting bamboo , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 8: Insects on a bamboo tree , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 10: Jadav planting saplings , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 11: Jadav Molai hugging a tree , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 12: Forest , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. This book was made possible by Pratham Books' StoryWeaver platform. Content under Creative Commons licenses can be downloaded, translated and can even be used to create new stories ​‐ provided you give appropriate credit, and indicate if changes were made. To know more about this, and the full terms of use and attribution, please visit the following link . Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions Some rights reserved. This book is CC ​ -BY ​ -4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The development of this book has been supported by Oracle Giving Initiative. Illustration Attributions: Page 13: Birds in flight , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 14: Animals in the forest , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 15: Hornbill watching Jadav and snakes , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 16: Jadav in a forest filled with trees, animals and birds , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 18: Jadav planting a seed , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 19: Planting a forest , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 21: Looking up at the sky, through a forest , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 22: Jadav Molai, a conservationist , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 23: Planting a mango tree , by Vinayak Varma © Pratham Books, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license.

Source: Pratham Books
Original: Jadav and the Tree-Place
License: CC BY 4.0 (story and original illustrations)

Original story illustrations and printed English text retained. Pages rendered from the source PDF; page-aligned synthetic English narration and an editorial introduction added by Little Leaf. Web and printable layout adapted by Little Leaf. Age and reading-level suggestions are editorial. Original stories and artwork belong to their credited creators. Website narration uses the selected synthetic Voice 7.