A young boy spots a baby tree growing in the middle of a dusty path in his village. He carefully places rocks around it as the local mango seller rushes past shouting, ?Out of the way! Out of the way!” As the tree grows bigger, people and animals traverse the path until it becomes a lane, flowing like a river around the tree and getting out of its way. Over time, the lane becomes a road, and a young man crossing the road with his children remembers the baby tree from long ago. By the time he is an old man, the tree has become a giant. The city traffic continues to rattle past, noisier and busier than ever, but sometimes the great tree works its magic, and people just stop, and listen. In this simple, lyrical story, a wide-spreading tree and a busy road grow simultaneously, even as time passes and the footsteps of people and animals give way to speeding cars, buses and trucks.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 5, Issue 1
- ISBN: 9781554981304
- Author: Krishnaswami, Uma
- Illustrator: Krishnaswamy, Uma
- Published: 2012
- Themes: busy, Folk art, growth, time, tree, village
- Descriptors: Asia, Fiction, India, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9)
- No. of pages: 28