One day Aani is resting against her favorite tree when she hears the unfamiliar roar of trucks. She alerts the village women, the eldest of whom says the sounds are made by men from the city who have come to cut down the trees.
The women explain to the cutters that their trees provide the villagers with food and fuel; are home to animals; and prevent erosion. But the men are heedless. As the cutters move closer, Aani acts with quiet, instinctive heroism to save not only her special tree, but also the village’s beloved forest.
Based on a true event in northern India in the 1970s called the Chipko Andolan movement to save trees, which drew its inspiration for an earlier movement in 1730. [Publisher’s description.]
ISBN: 9781584300045 | Lee & Low Books
In rural northern India of the 1970’s, the brave women of the Chipko Andolan (“Hug the Tree”) movement became one with the trees. Atkins zooms in on one woman and her community, capturing a sense of place and the spirit behind actions. . . Richly textured writing and images offer an articulation of the lives and energy of the women of the Chipko Andolan and the land they inhabit. —Media Matters Magazine
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