I love trees.
I love eating their fruits and smelling their flowers. And most of all, I love climbing them.
I want to climb every different kind of tree in the world.

I want to climb a jackfruit tree.
It has a thick trunk for a good footing, and strong, sturdy branches to hold my weight.
But I will need to watch out for falling fruit!

I want to climb a chinar tree.
In autumn, it glows with bright, red leaves, and becomes the best hiding place.
But, in the winter, there are no leaves left to hide in.

I want to climb a betelnut tree.

Climbing would be easier if there were branches on the trunk.
But I will take it as a challenge and hop, hop, hop to the top!

I want to climb a moringa tree.

It looks easy to climb, at least to me.
But the trunk is so thin that the higher I climb, the more it will bend downwards.

I want to climb a mangrove tree, with its spindly branches and giant, exposed roots.

But to climb a mangrove tree, I will have to splash through muddy, crocodile-filled water first.

I want to climb a khejri tree. It would be tricky to climb the many thin, thorny branches.

But I will twist and dodge and avoid getting pricked.

I can’t wait to climb trees all across the country.
Can you name the different trees in the pictures and mark them on the map?

Have You Ever Climbed a Tree? (English) was written by Priyadarshini Gogoi and illustrated by Barkha Lohia, supported by Sofina Covid Solidarity Fund, published by Pratham Books (©Pratham Books, 2021) under a CC BY 4.0 licence, first released on StoryWeaver. You can read the original story here.