Wicked Local (Natick, MA)

Friday, February 22, 2008

At Natick reads, the word is fun

By Maureen Sullivan

Natick - Take three cups of tea.

Add some seeds.

Throw in some music, pennies and mountain climbing.

Top it off with a lot of discussion, theater and storytelling.

That’s your Natick Reads for this year.

On Friday, Feb. 15, both the Morse Institute and Bacon Free libraries held kickoffs for the community reading program, where they made available program guides and the two featured books — "Seedfolks" by Paul Fleischman and "Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.

"Seedfolks" is how the author, a Newbery medallist, created an urban garden that brought a new sense of hope and community to a bleak neighborhood.

For this younger crowd (grades four and up), both libraries let the kids get down and dirty; with plenty of seeds and pots, as well as dirt, the kids had their choice of bringing home not only a book and program guide, but their very own seedlings.

At the Morse, green beans and sunflowers were among the seeds ready to be planted.

"It was good," said Christina Mangano, a third-grader at Lilja School, as she potted her seeds. "When they had ‘Hoot’ a couple of years ago, I won an owl."

"We love the library," said Anne Marie Bowen of Sherborn, who brought her sons, Jack and Willie, to the event. "We’ve been coming here since they were tiny."

Older readers will explore the worlds of rural Pakistan through "Three Cups of Tea." The author, Greg Mortenson, was a mountain climber who in 1992 had failed to ascend K2, one of the highest mountains in the world. Exhausted and emaciated, Mortenson was rescued by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village. Mortenson vowed to return one day and build them a school. Since that time, Mortenson has been building schools, especially for girls, throughout an area known as a breeding ground for the Taliban.

"The books are absolutely fantastic," said Paula Polk, director at the Morse Institute. "I read ‘Three Cups of Tea’ about a year or so ago ... I was so moved by it. It’s part of a world I’m not familiar with. It’s very enriching, the success of one person, in those small villages and those family bonds ... the joy they get out of life."

Polk said there are about 100 copies of each book ready to be checked out.

"The Bacon Free Library staff is excited about both titles because, although very different in style and subject, they each show the power that one person with determination has to make good things happen. Both also show that all types of people can work together and learn from each other," said Diane Wallace, director of the Bacon Free Library.

"The Bacon Free Library has events scheduled throughout the month of March, and we hope you’ll join us for a book discussion, art project, seed planting or simply a cup of tea."

In addition to the Bacon Free Library, other sponsors and sites include the Center for Arts in Natick, the Natick Community Organic Farm and Natick High School, as well as Stop & Shop, the Friends of the Morse Institute Library, REI, Roche Bros. and Upton Tea Imports.

The formal kickoff is set for March 2 with world music and storytelling at the Morse. other programs offered for March include rock climbing at REI, storytelling, a Readers’ Theatre at TCAN, tea tasting and discussions about both books.

In addition, there will be a Pennies for Peace drive at both libraries and Natick High School beginning March 1. The program was started by Jerene Mortenson, a schoolteacher and the mother of Greg Mortenson. When she told her students about her son’s desire to build a school, her students collected more 62,000 pennies in one month. The proceeds from this drive will go to the Central Asia Institute, which helps provide community-based education in that region, especially for girls.

Information on Natick Reads, as well as program guides and the books, are now available at the Morse Institute, 14 East Central St., 508-647-6520, www.morseinstitute.org.; and the Bacon Free Library, 58 Eliot St., 508-653-6730, www.baconfreelibrary.org.

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