Fly Safe, Godavan
by Cara Tejpal and illustrated by Sanjana Desai
“Fly Safe, Godavan” by Cara Tejpal and illustrated by Sanjana Desai. Published by Pratham. A beautiful book to create awareness about the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard.
Rania is a little girl who sees the Godavan or Great Indian Bustard for the first time in their Mung bean field. Saleem mamu tells her about this regal looking bird and the threats that it faces for survival. She then keeps a watch out for the bird. Subsequently the bird finds a mate who then lays an egg.
Saleem Mamu asks Rania to protect the Godavan’s nest. Rania ensures that the grazing cattle and camels don’t trample the egg. She is elated when the egg hatches and a chick comes out. She is determined to safeguard the chick and her ma.
These heavy and tall birds cannot fly too high. Also their frontal vision is not too good which means that they do not see the power lines till they get too close to fly higher than the lines. What are the solutions that Saleem Mamu and Rania come up with to save these birds? Do their plans work?
The Godavan narrowly missed out on becoming the national bird of India though it was highly backed by Dr. Salim Ali. One of the primary reasons being that it’s English name (Great Indian Bustard) had a high probability of being misspelled. Unfortunately this bird is critically endangered, with less than 150 of them surviving in the wild today. Sadly not many people are aware of it. Neither had I heard about it till I started bird watching. I consider it my fortune to have seen this bird in the wild a decade ago in the Desert National Park on the outskirts of Jaisalmer.
The book is level 3 and apt for children aged 6+. Super happy to have stumbled upon the below story from Pratham books to introduce this bird to our children. Enjoyed reading it with my seven year old. We read it first on storyweaver last year and was happy to see it in print this year. “The Maldhok in the Desert” by Jeyanti Manokaran is another lovely book on the same bird for slightly older readers and can be read on storyweaver here.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Pratham Books here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.