Stand as Tall as the Trees by Gualinga (2023) & The Forest Keeper by Singh (2023)
Many of you saw the lemonade fundraiser that the kids and I did for Maui Strong, the Hawaii Community Foundation on the news. The devastation in Maui weighs heavy on my heart and has me reflecting on our connection with the land and our dedication to preserving it. We are all hurt when our beautiful, natural environment burns, but the impact is often felt more profoundly for indigenous groups. The CBC article, “Native Hawaiians Fear Maui Wildfire Destruction Will Lead to Their Cultural Erasure,” highlights how the destruction of native lands can nearly wipe-out indigenous history, practices and culture. “Stand as Tall as the Trees: How an Amazonian Community Protected the Rain Forest” by Gualinga and Resua (2023) and “The Forest Keeper: The True Story of Jadav Payeng” by Rina Singh (2023) are two excellent pictures books that get to the heart of this concern.
“Stand as Tall as the Trees” is beautifully illustrated by Vanessa Jaramillo. The illustrations alone are reason to pick up this book. This is a true story of Paty, a young woman who grew up in an Amazon village in Ecuador. When an oil company starts destroying their forest in search of oil, Paty returns from her city school to protect her land and community. Ultimately, she and her community members travel to Costa Rica and bring their case to the Court of Human Rights, who rules in their favor!
“The Forest Keeper” is also a nonfiction picture book. In 1979, Jadav realized that the island of Majuli, in northeast India needed trees and plants in order for the wildlife to thrive. He asked the adults to plant trees, but they simply gave him bamboo seeds. He planted the bamboo and continued to plant a variety of trees and before long, the birds came. Then, the tigers and elephants. It became a migratory hub and sanctuary for all animals! How amazing!!
Heart: What is your connection to the land? What do you do to mitigate the overuse of land and water? How can we be more mindful in our purchases? Our ways of living? How do our travel and vacations impact native and indigenous peoples?
Head: The back matter in “Stand as Tall as the Trees” features indigenous groups from the other 5 continents (excluding Antarctica) and the work that they do to protect their environments. If a teacher wanted to conduct a research project on indigenous groups working to protect the environment - this back matter offers a great start.