Natick Reads is a community-wide, read together program. Read one or both of our selections.
Pick up your copy at the Libraries.

For the younger readers, grades 4 and up, Seedfolks by Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman

For the older readers, Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace… One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Natick Reads Events
(Access a complete Events Calendar)

Sunday, 3/2 Natick Reads Kickoff Events at Morse starting at 1:30 pm

• 1:30 pm World Music: Sowing the Seeds of Community with storyteller Davis Bates and musician Roger Tincknell
• 2:30 pm Book Giveaway, Seed Planting and your First Cup of Tea
  

Tuesday, 3/4 Read and Seed Family Storytime at Bacon

• 6:30 pm Stories for young children. Seed Planting.
  

Wednesday, 3/12 Readers’ Theatre: Seedfolks at TCAN, 14 Summer St.

• 7:00 pm Hear Seedfolks come to life. Free Admission.
  

Friday, 3/14 Art for All: Seeds at Bacon

• 3-5 pm Create an art collage with seeds.

Monday, 3/17 Cultural History of Tea at Morse

• 7:00-8:30 pm Frank Sanchez from Upton Tea Imports will host a presentation on the history of tea, followed by a tea tasting.
• Your Second Cup of Tea.
  

Saturday, 3/22 Mountain Climbing Basics with REI

• 1:00 pm REI staff will discuss Mountain Climbing Basics.
  

Monday, 3/24 Natick Reads Silver Apple Family Storyhour at Morse

• 6:30 pm Stories and Songs for Families with children ages 3-9
  

Saturday 3/29 Read & Seed Family Storytime at Bacon

• 10:00 am Stories for young children. Seed Planting. (Repeat of 3/4 program)
  

Saturday 3/29 Third Cup of Tea at Morse

• 1-3 pm Drop in for a last cup of tea and refreshments. Certificates of growth will be presented to all those who bring in their seedlings for show and tell.

Programs

March Kickoff Events
Sunday, March 2; 1:30 pm
Morse Institute Library
(Access a Kickoff flyer*)

Please join us for our kickoff activities:

World Music: Sowing the Seeds of Community
1:30 pm
Acclaimed performers Davis Bates and Roger Tincknell will share stories and songs with us.

Book Giveaways & First Cup of Tea
2:30 pm
Get your copy of the books, plant a seed and drink a cup of tea.

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea: One
Man’s Mission to Promote
Peace... One School at a Time
By Greg Mortenson
and David Oliver Relin

In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan’s Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to
health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most humanitarian campaigns of our time—Greg Mortenson’s
one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.

Award-winning journalist David Oliver Relin has collaborated on this spellbinding account of Mortenson’s incredible accomplishments in a region where Americans are often feared and hated. - Penguin Group USA

The offering of tea is a ritual performed by the peoples of northern Pakistan:

“With the first cup of tea, you are a stranger,
With the second cup of tea, you are an honored guest,
With the third cup of tea, you are family.”

Three Cups of Tea Book Discussions, open to all:

• Wednesday, 2/27 at 7:00 pm at Morse
• Thursday, 3/6 at 10:00 am at Bacon
• Tuesday, 3/18 at 7:00 pm at Bacon
• Wednesday, 3/19 at 11:00 am at Morse
• Thursday, 3/20 at 7:00 pm at Bacon

Seedfolks

Seedfolks
By Paul Fleischman

In Seedfolks, Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman creates an urban garden that brings a new sense of hope and community to a bleak city neighborhood. As each character talks about his or her life the reader learns how and why each one started planting seeds in the trashy vacant lot in a diverse urban neighborhood. These small steps created a vibrant community garden, fostered unexpected relationships, changed lives, and transformed a fragmented neighborhood into a real community.

Readers’ Theatre: Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
Wednesday, 3/12 at 7:00 pm at The Center for Arts in Natick (TCAN), 14 Summer Street, Natick.
Join us at a Reader’s Theatre production of Paul Fleischman’s Seedfolks. See the story come to life read by storytellers from the greater Natick community.

Tea and refreshments will be served after the production. Reservations are not required and admission is free. For more information, please contact Jane Finlay at 508-647-6536.
(Access a Readers' Theatre flyer*)

Seedfolks Book Discussions, open to all:

• Thursday, 3/6 at 7:00 pm—Parent and Child book discussion at Morse (Access a Book Discussion flyer*)
• Tuesday, 3/18 at 7:00 pm at Bacon
• Tuesday, 3/25 at 6:30 pm—Family Book discussion at Bacon

Cultural History of Tea with Frank Sanchez of Upton Tea Imports
A Second Cup of Tea
Monday, March 17; 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Morse Institute Library, Lebowitz Meeting Hall

Learn about the history and traditions of tea.
Frank Sanchez of Upton Tea Imports will host a presentation on the cultural history of tea. Mr. Sanchez will bring samples of teas from around the world for all to taste.
For more information, please call Karen Perkins at 508-647-6520. This program is presented at no charge and is open to the public. (Access a Cultural History of Tea flyer*)

Mountain Climbing Basics with REI
Saturday, March 22; 1:00 pm
Morse Institute Library, Lebowitz Meeting Hall

Ever wanted to climb mountains in the winter?
Meet someone who has.

• Hear REI staff share their winter climbing experiences in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
• Learn about mountain climbing basics, proper equipment and clothing.
• Watch an equipment demonstration and get your mountain
  climbing questions answered.

For more information, please call Karen Perkins at 508-647-6520. This program is presented at no charge and is open to the public. (Access a Mountain Climbing Basics flyer*)

Pennies for Peace

Pennies for Peace is a program that educates
American children about the world beyond their
experience and shows them that they can make a
positive impact on a global scale, one penny at a time.

Pennies for Peace was founded by Jerene Mortenson, mother of Greg Mortenson. As a school teacher she told her students about her son’s desire to build a school in the Korphe Region of Pakistan. In one month they collected 62,345
pennies and gave them to Greg to help him fulfill his promises and build his first school for the children of Korphe.

Our goal is to collect as many pennies as we can during March’s Natick Reads.

Help us show the power of a penny!

Pennies for Peace is a program of the Central Asia Institute. The mission of Central Asia Institute (CAI) focuses on community-based education, especially for girls. A 5th grade education for girls improves not only the basic level of
health for her and her family, she will also spread the value of education within her community.
Your pennies will be accepted at Natick High School, Morse Institute Library and Bacon Free Library.

Thank you!

We thank the sponsors for their generosity in making our Natick Reads program such a success: Friends of the Morse Institute Library, Friends of the Bacon Free Library, Natick Community Organic Farm, Town of Natick, REI, Roche Bros., Stop & Shop of Natick, TCAN (The Center for Arts in Natick), Upton Tea Imports, and of course, Paul Fleischman, author of Seedfolks and Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, authors of Three Cups of Tea.

* PDF file; requires Adobe Reader which may be obtained free here: