Did Tiger Take the Rain? by Charles Norris-Brown
In a Tharu village in the Nepal terai, it has been uncommonly hot and dry. One day, a tiger comes. People run away in fear. The villagers think it is a bad omen and that the tiger has taken the rain. Best friends Usha and Anjali decide to ask Tiger herself why she has taken the rain. They set out for the jungle. Entering the forest, they meet Jackal who wants to know why they are there. They tell Jackal that they have come to ask Tiger why she took the rain. Jackal asks them to follow him and he will help them find out where the rain went. Thus they start on an adventure from Jackals story to being swept away into the tree tops by monkeys who tell their own side of the story. Tiger did not take the rain. Forest help make clouds. Rain comes from clouds and when the forests disappear, so will the rain. What happened to the forest and how can we bring it back? Monkey gives them the seeds they need to replenish the forest. The girls return to the village, plant seedlings and watch a new forest take shape. The rain returns. Jackal, Tiger and Monkey return deeper into the forest. In the end, Anjali realizes that when the sun shines, it shines down on humans and tigers together. When it rains, we share the same rain.