House and Vaswani create two main characters who have a deep appreciation for nature to show the reader the importance of caring for the natural environment. For example, Meena highly values nature. When Meena thinks about growing up in Mussoorie, she thinks of the beautiful mountains there and how being out in nature was part of her everyday life. One of the hardest things for her about living in New York is adjusting to being surrounded by buildings rather than mountains. Now that she is removed from natural surroundings, she values them even more than she did when she lived in the beauty of nature.

River also appreciates nature. He chooses to walk through the woods on his way home from school, and he prizes the beautiful details to be found on the leaves. Some of his favorite things to do are fishing and collecting objects on nature walks with Mawmaw. When River sees that the natural world around him is in danger, he feels troubled, and like, Mawmaw, he wants to take action to protect it. Meena also feels sorrow at the thought of animals losing their homes and precious natural resources being wasted. Like her Dadi who stood with the village women to protect their trees, Meena figuratively stands with River and Mawmaw by supporting them in their protest against the coal company.