★Shortlisted for Peek-a-Book Children’s Choice Awards 2018, India

Sid is a lonely boy who detests idle, lonely trees. He has good reasons though. At least he likes to think so. He does not notice the friendship between the dangling leaves, dancing to the song of the wind. He ignores countless birds returning to the safety of their comfy homes, nestled in the soft spots of rough branches, after a long day of collecting worms. So when he is called a brainless tree for missing a save in soccer at school, it is easy for him to decide he never wants to be a tree, until one morning he wakes up to have transformed into one.

Srividhya Venkat spins a delectable fantasy around thinking twice about what you wish for, or not and depicts the transformation of Sid’s lonely life after he embraces the excitable voices of kids twisted in his vines and the ecosystem hovering above him. Nayantara Surendranath’s eccentric combination of art collage and digital creation expresses the refreshing quirks that breathe life into the tale.

Author Biography

Srividhya Venkat’s first story was illustrated and hand-published by her brother when she was 8 years old. Then she grew up to be just another adult. But after reading several books to her children, she sort of became a kid again and began to weave new stories. Today she is a children’s author and oral storyteller who loves to create and share stories about our big, beautiful world where everyone is different, yet same-same.

Nayantara Surendranath is an Illustrator and Graphic designer based out of Pune. She graduated as an animator from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology and has been working across the field of visual communication ever since. She began illustrating for children’s picture books in 2012 and her love for children’s content has only continued to grow. Her work explores the relationship between mixed media art and digital illustration, and she is constantly exploring new forms of visual expression through her techniques. She juggles, bakes and hangs out with Sakura- her cat, in her free time.