Summer Holiday Adventure Author: Shweta Bajpai Illustrators: Adrie Le Roux, Barkha Lohia, Greystroke, Lauren Nel, Lavanya Karthik, Mamun Hossain..
Schools are closed for summers. Shyam and Shubh will spend the vacations with their grandparents in Himachal. Grandparents live in a large house near a forest, right next to the hills. Shubh and Shyam are excited and anxious. They have heard so many scary stories about Himachal and can't wait to find more. 2/12
Grandpa and grandmom are wondering how to keep Shubh and Shyam busy and safe. There are no toys and neighbors around to occupy the kids. Shubh and Shyam arrive and started loving the beautiful mountains and the natural beauty around them. Shubh loved to chase birds and Shyam loved running up and down the hill. 3/12
The forest next to the house is scary. No one enters as they fear snakes. One day, Shubh sees a beautiful blue and yellow bird on a big tree in the forest. He wants to paint the bird and starts following it. It flies from tree to tree and soon Shubh is lost in the forest. It's noon time and there is no clear path back to the house. 4/12
Shyam wants to play with Shubh and calls him but he is not in the house. He asks Grandma. Grandma looks everywhere but Shubh is nowhere. She and Grandpa are very worried. Shyam is worried too but he is brave and starts running up the hill to reach the top from where he can see around. Grandpa tells him, "Please stay safe" 5/12
Meanwhile, Shubh keeps looking everywhere but can't see the house. He does not know how to leave the forest. He starts screaming but the forest is too dense for his voice to carry out. The blue and yellow bird is starting at him. "Who can help me" - thinks Shubh. He is scared but decided to use his presence of mind. 6/12
Shyam reaches the top of the hill. He can see the whole forest from here. But, how to see Shubh in this lush green cover? Shubh will need to see a sign so that he can know how to reach the house. He takes off his red shirt and ties it over a broken branch and plants it as a flag which can wave around and is clearly visible. 7/12
In the forest, Shubh is thinking the same thing. He needs to be at a height to see things around him and find his way out. He spots a tall mango tree and decides he needs to be brave to climb it up. He takes each step carefully and in one hour, reaches the top. It has been tiring and he has hurt his palms but he is here at last. 8/12
Once he has recovered his breath, Shubh balances himself on the branch and looks around. Soon, he spots Shyam's red shirt waving like a flag. The delight on his face knows no bound. If he could manage, he would jump from the tree to the mountain and meet his little brother. For now, he uses a scout boy trick. 9/12
He collects dry leaves from the tree and takes off his eyeglasses. He find the right angle and focuses the sunlight onto the leaves. He waits for the magic moment to happen and soon enough there is a small whiff of smoke that starts and becomes stronger every second. Before long, Shyam on the hill top sees the smoke too. 10/12
Shyam runs back quickly and gets his grandpa to bring the forest officer to the hilltop and shows them the smoke. Not long after, they all drive to the direction of the smoke and get Shubh to climb down safely from the tree. The two brothers hug each other and marvel at their combined intelligence. Grandpa is so surprised. 11/12
The kids reach the safety of their house and in the arms of their grandparents. "Such brave kids" - everyone said. The grandparents were proud and the kids had such a fun summer vacation story to tell back to their city friends. They want to be here every year now - who knows what opportunity nature presents for them next ! 12/12
Story Attribution: This story: Summer Holiday Adventure is written by Shweta Bajpai . © Shweta Bajpai , 2020. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Images Attributions: Cover page: Summer day by the sea, by Prashant Miranda © Pratham Books, 2015. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 2: Houses along the foothills of a mountain, by Mamun Hossain © Room to Read, 2012. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 3: Girl and baby laugh with parents and grandparents, by Lavanya Karthik © Pratham Books, 2017. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 4: Bird, by Lauren Nel © Book Dash, 2019. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 5: confused grandparents, by Snigdha Mishra© Snigdha Mishra, 2020. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 6: Forest scene, by Barkha Lohia © Pratham Books, 2018. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 7: House on the hill, by Adrie Le Roux © Book Dash, 2017. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 8: A big tree, by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 9: Top view of a tree, by Shailja Jain Chougule © Room to Read, 2016. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 10: Orange sunlight, by Greystroke © Pratham Books, 2005. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Page 11: Two boys standing together, smiling, by Pallak Goswamy © Pratham Books, 2013. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions Some rights reserved. This book is CC-BY-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Images Attributions: Page 12: Forest Adventures, by Shadrach Munene © Book Dash, 2017. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. Disclaimer: https://www.storyweaver.org.in/terms_and_conditions Some rights reserved. This book is CC-BY-4.0 licensed. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
This is a Level 2 book for children who recognize familiar words and can read new words with help. (English) Summer Holiday Adventure Children go to their grandparents for summer vacation and discover an unplanned adventure Pratham Books goes digital to weave a whole new chapter in the realm of multilingual children's stories. Knitting together children, authors, illustrators and publishers. Folding in teachers, and translators. To create a rich fabric of openly licensed multilingual stories for the children of India and the world. Our unique online platform, StoryWeaver, is a playground where children, parents, teachers and librarians can get creative. Come, start weaving today, and help us get a book in every child's hand!