Additional information
by Uma Krishnaswami (Author), Ruth Jeyaveeran (Illustrator)
Choices, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Meena is excited about the class play, a new and improved version of Red Riding Hood.
Meena is excited about the class play, a new and improved version of Red Riding Hood. But when she learns that she must play one of the trees in the forest, Meena's excitement vanishes. She is just too clumsy to be a quiet, steady tree.
One day at the Indian grocery store, Meena sees a yoga class in progress, and the store owner convinces her to try the children's class. Little does Meena know she is about to find a way to grow from the inside out, just like a tree, and move beyond her feelings of clumsiness and frustration.
The Happiest Tree is a gentle and empowering story of a young girl's road to self-confidence. It is sure to spark interest in yoga, and provide comfort to all children as they struggle to overcome the everyday obstacles to growing up.
Author Biography
Uma Krishnaswami was born in India and now lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Her novel, Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh, won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. Uma has been nominated twice for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. She teaches in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Visit her online at umakrishnaswami.com.
Ruth Jeyaveeran is the author and illustrator of The Road to Mumbai, praised by School Library Journal as a "lively romp across India." Much of Jeyaveeran's fine art and illustration work is inspired by her South Asian heritage, so she felt an immediate connection to this story. Jeyaveeran lives in Brooklyn, New York.
