Beneath a banyan tree's broad, expansive covering, the people of a small village in India find a center for community life. School children gather for a class, traders exchange goods, and villagers seek shelter from the mid-day sun. Later in the day, children will play in and around the tree and old men will gather to talk. All the while, high up in its branches, egrets and owls nest, langur monkeys play, and rose finches, fairy bluebirds and other birdlife feast on ripe red figs. The human and wildlife activity in around this tree that is sacred to the people of India is followed from dawn to dusk to dawn in a singular, informative text with full-color illustrations that stretch across each two-page spread. (Ages 8-11)