t 2020 Crystal Kite Awards - Southeast Division Winner 2020-2021 Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award List Notable Social Studies Trade Books list - Winning Title! 2019 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award - Winning Title Florida Book Award Gold Winner Recipient of the 2019 Eureka! Honors Award Winner -Best of 2019 Kids Books - Most Inspiring Category As a boy, Jadav Payeng was distressed by the destruction deforestation and erosion was causing on his island home in India's Brahmaputra River. So he began planting trees. What began as a small thicket of bamboo, grew over the years into 1,300 acre forest filled with native plants and animals. The Boy Who Grew a Forest tells the inspiring true story of Payeng--and reminds us all of the difference a single person with a big idea can make.