I'm always so happy to see children's picture book with non fiction stories. I have a soft spot for non-fictional memoirs that seem too unrealistic because that makes me appreciate the world even more. Thanks for this book. I hope many more people learn Jadav Payeng's name and his story.

An inspiring true story of a man who created and nurtured a forest all alone, that too on a sandbar!

Jadav Payeng was a young tribal boy in 1979 when the river that passed by his island village flooded the banks and left many snakes dead, having perished due to lack of shady green cover. Payeng realised that trees could solve the issue but no one was ready to take charge. When the forest department gave him a bag of seedlings saying, ‘Go plant them yourself”, he actually did so. He started planting those seedlings on an abandoned sandbar. After thirty years, the resulting dense forest covers about 1360 acres, an area larger than the Central Park of New York. No one even knew of his efforts until a wildlife photographer stumbled upon his story in 2009. Since then, he has been acclaimed and is now known as the forest man of India.

As a children’s picture book, this story delivers mostly well. Payeng’s story is inspiring in many ways. Other than showing how hard work does bear fruit, the tale also highlights the importance of every single individual in creating a better world. In a world where forest fires and flooding have become quite common, we can’t keep looking the government to implement climate-safe regulations. The future lies in all our hands, and Payeng’s story shows that every small step too can make a vast difference.

Even beyond the above, the book will be greatly useful in showing how biomes can spring naturally. Payeng’s planting efforts have resulted in his forest being populated by tigers, rhinos, elephants and many other wild creatures, all of whom simply moved into the area because of the tree cover. Nature can remedy itself, if only humans would stop butchering it mercilessly.

The book is aimed at readers aged 4 to 12, grades 1 to 6. The vocabulary level is manageable. There are a few difficult words, but none that can’t be explained easily. There are a few nature-related terms such as silt and glacier.

The illustrations are a perfect match for the natural topic. Painted in watercolours using earthy hues, the greens and browns and yellows serve well to support the natural feel of the story. I just wish there were some actual photographs too (both of the man and of his handiwork) included at the end. Seeing illustrations helps but is not as impactful as the photograph of a lush green forest.

Overall, definitely a great story for classroom discussions as well as for little environmental-friendly readers who will see that they aren’t too small to take big steps in saving this planet, a little at a time.

4.25 stars.

My thanks to North South Books and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Forest Keeper– The True Story of Jadav Payeng”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review "The Forest Keeper".

There was a bit of a cold start to this book, however it was a wonderful read of how one person, with enough determination was able to create a sustainable eco-system. This would be a great read for Libraries especially for Earth Day, eco-conservation, South Asia and perseverance. The artwork was wonderful with the watercolors and clear illustrations of animals and a variety of plants.

This was a simple yet lovely nonfiction title about an inspirational environmentalist. I've read about Jadav Payeng before, but his story never ceases to amaze me. It is an absolute testament to the idea that one single person can make a huge impact. I enjoyed the simple text of this book and the watercolor illustrations were beautiful. Early readers that enjoy science, nature, and learning about inspirational people will likely enjoy this book.

This was a quick read but I enjoyed it. The language was a little stilted and sometimes read like a translation of English (I'm not sure if it was) but the story itself was quite inspiring. I would recommend it for in-class reading for whatever grade level it targets.

a wonderful story about taking matters into your own hands based on a true story! this is a wonderful non-fiction book for children, and especially with the current state of the climate crisis, a story encouraging environmentalism like this is very welcome.

This book is about Jadav Payeng, a boy who created a forest in an area where the islands were being gouged out by the Brahmaputra River. This area was a wasteland where nothing had grown before. He started with bamboo seedlings, then moved on to other species of plants, and eventually, birds and many animal species migrated to this forest. This story is gorgeously illustrated and the text takes you on the journey of this Forest Keeper. In this book, we see the initiative, persistence, and resilience ofJadav. It's an inspirational story for a home, school, or library setting.

The Forest Keeper is the true story of an Indian man named Jadav Payeng who in 1979, is distraught when water wipes out the life on an island. He reaches out for help with his idea of planting trees on a sandbar so the roots help it stay in place, but he is ridiculed. He doesn’t give up and is finally given seeds and told to plant them himself. He works for years tending the seedlings, inventing ways to keep them watered on the sandbar, and creates a forest which develops into a lush habitat full of all kinds of plant and wildlife.

Jaded was a 14-year-old boy and northern India when the river dried up in the water snakes were dead, due to not having any trees to get shade from. he was very distressed by this and went to his tribal elders to beg for help but sadly they couldn’t help so he then went to the forestry department and although they pretty much blew him off, they did give him a bag of bamboo seeds said here go plant trees yourself. This is a wonderful story about a boy who over the course of his life would make a forest. Tree by tree NC by sea slowly but surely the water snakes would never be in danger of dying out again and despite what the forestry Council said he did Grow trees Old Sand dunes and like I said he actually grew oh forest. This is a great book for children if this doesn’t teach them that one person can make a difference nothing well this is not only a great testament to the world power of one but a great achievement by a boy who was told no. I read about this in the National Geographic book but was so excited when I saw this request on NetGalleyShelf I feel privileged that I even got to read it I absolutely loved this book. What a great story. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

*add to cart*

This is a great book that really shows the power of one person, one choice, one goal. It is a great way to show how anyone can make a difference. I look forward to adding this to my classroom library (ELL Kindergarten).

This story can be used in many different classroom discussions. Perseverance, geography, and autobiographical to name a few. I enjoyed this story so much and even loved the ending where more info about Jadav is given. The illustration are absolutely stunning. I think classrooms could use this for very meaningful conversations.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The story is good and illustrations are beautiful!

The Forest Keeper is an inspiring picture children book based on true story. Molay Payeng is the man who determined to planted a whole forest by himself to prevent floods to attacked his village. He worked alone for years, never give up even when he faced so many troubles. This book is short and written by simple storytelling but sharing so much information, idea and inspiration. Parents and teacher can using this book as begining step to doing researching when kids interest enough with the topic.

The watercolor illustration is amazingly beautiful and decorate the background lightly without overcrowded the text.

Thank you NorthSouth Publishing and Netgalley for provided my copy. Really appreciate and my thoughts are my own.

4.3 Stars

The Forest Keeper is the true story of Jadav Molai Payeng, the man who single-handedly planted a forest on a wasteland in Assam. He was determined to prevent the Brahmaputra floods from affecting the villages by planting trees to hold the soil and minimize the risk of flooding.
For decades he worked alone, planting seeds, tending to the saplings, taking care of the trees, etc. The wasteland became a forest brimming with animals, birds, and insects. He had to face countless difficulties but overcame each of them. The forest is named after him. He is called the Forest Man of India.
The book gives us his story in simple words (suitable for kids). The watercolor illustrations are dramatic and a wee bit blurry (seems intentional). Though it gives enough information, parents and teachers can get kids to search the internet for more. Books like this are important to show kids that they can achieve what they want with persistence and hard work. And most importantly, how nature will give back multifold if you give her a teeny seed.
It’s amazing how one man's determination can change an entire region. Jadav is a tribesman for Majuli in Assam. Another example of how indigenous people are connected to the land. He still lives in the forest with his family. Together, they take care of it and its inhabitants.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and NorthSouth Books and am voluntarily leaving a review.

We love nonfiction books here in our home and this one is nothing short of a treasure!

In this story, Jadav first became concerned when hundreds of water snakes washed ashore where they shriveled and died in the hot sun.

After this unsettling experience, he went first to the elders of his tribe then to the forest department where he was told “Go plant them yourself!”.

So he did. And he never stopped.

Each day 16-year old Jadav planted, watered and tended to his trees.

Jadav’s pride can be felt through the text as we’re told he saw and felt his forest come alive when the birds came and the many animals like tigers, rhinos, wild boar and rabbits wandered his forest.

The forest he grew from a single bag of bamboo seedlings is now the size of Central Park in New York City!

This book is an inspirational spark for children to go out and solve world issues..to be young change makers. Immediately after reading my daughter wanted to discuss ways we can not only help the environment, but help with other issues, beginning with our community. That's priceless to me!

We cannot wait to add a physical copy to our home library!

Thank you Rina Singh for taking the time to research and mastermind this beautiful story! Thank you to NorthSouth Books for this Advance Read Copy!

'The Forest Keeper'. A simple, beautiful retelling of the true story of Jadav Payeng, a man who planted a whole forest as a boy despite the disbelief of those around him. A brilliant text to read with younger children, to engage them with environmental issues and to show them that even children can be change-makers. Beautiful watercolour illustrations that support the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.