Sundar is raised in a village who celebrates the birth of boys with the banging of pots and pans and the sharing of sweets, but meets the birth of girls with silent disappointment. Seeing the land around the village ravaged by marble mining, Sundar decides to act for change and runs to become (and is chosen to be) his village leader. After the death of his oldest daughter (paralleling his loss of his mother as a boy), Sundar’s grief finds solace in planting trees in her memory and is inspired to honor all girls by planting 111 trees whenever a girl is born, and ensuring they have an education rather than becoming child brides. While Sundar initially experiences resistance, “slowly, very slowly, the villagers begin to understand that by welcoming girls and planting trees, they might bring balance back to nature.” A true story, the message of this book is poignant and one of overwhelming hope for the change a single individual can inspire. By breaking the cycle and investing in the future of both women and the environment, the village of Piplantri flourishes and enters a cycle of sustainable joy. The illustrations—created with a stunning color palette—have a cultural flavor that feels fresh and modern and engage the reader with their art and emotion.
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Rina Singh is an internationally published children’s author and has written fifteen books for children including A Forest of Stories, which has been translated in several languages. She has written an award-winning biography on the Inuit artist, Pitseolak Ashoona. Her most recent publications are Holi Colors, Diwali: Festival of Lights and Nearly Nonsense, and Guru Nanak. Her upcoming book A Meeting in the Sky is a World War II story. Holi Colors got starred reviews from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly. Rina has done readings and workshops in schools, libraries, and literary festivals across Canada, including TD Children’s Book Week in 2012 and 2018. In 2014, she also presented at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore and Reading for the Love of it in Toronto (2015). She is an Ontario Certified Teacher and has taught visual arts, drama, and creative writing in Toronto for 25 years. She is also a tdsbCREATES mentor artist for Spoken Word. She lives in a blue house in Toronto. Surrounded by birds, pesky squirrels, a rabbit and goldfish in an outdoor pond, she dreams of writing more stories for children. She also loves elephants but to meet them she has to travel to far away places.
Marianne Ferrer was born in Venezuela and immigrated to Canada in 1998. After attending Dawson College in Montreal, Quebec, for illustration and design, she completed her education in graphic design at the Université du Québec à Montréal. Her style is characterized by its charm, delicacy and depth. Marianne lives in Montreal, Quebec.
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