Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea

by Greg Mortenson, Susan L. Roth (Illustrator)

Overview

Greg Mortenson stumbled, lost and delirious, into a remote Himalayan village after a failed climb up K2. The villagers saved his life, and he vowed to return and build them a school. The remarkable story of his promise kept is now perfect for reading aloud. Told in the voice of Korphe’s children, this story illuminates the humanity and culture of a relevant and distant part of the world in gorgeous collage, while sharing a riveting example of how one person can change thousands of lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803730588
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	01/22/2009
Series:	Rise and Shine
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.38(w) x 10.78(h) x 0.42(d)
Lexile:	AD740L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Greg Mortenson is the director of the Central Asia Institute. A resident of Montana, he spends several months of the year in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Editorial Reviews

What a brilliant idea: Greg Mortenson has adapted his humanitarian memoir Three Cups of Tea for young readers! As an adult book, Mortenson's first-person account of his work setting up schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan became a surprise bestseller. This edition has been updated and thoughtfully reshaped for the needs and interests of children: In addition to new photographs and illustrations, this paperback version contains an interview by Mortenson's 12-year-old daughter, Amira, who, as an industrious Pennies for Peace Program volunteer, qualifies as a bona fide activist herself.

Listen to the Wind tells Mortenson's story in the clear, succinct voices of the children of Korphe. Leaving out background and history, the picture-book version is nevertheless true to the spirit of Mortenson's experience and mission. The minimal text is splendidly paired with Susan L. Roth's textural, earth-toned collages, which evoke the roughness of the terrain and the primitive quality of life there.
—The New York Times

Krystyna Poray Goddu

In this distilled version of the inspirational adult bestseller-at least its first part-the children of a Pakistani mountain village describe in a collective voice how their lessons had been outside, written with sticks on the ground, until they sheltered a lost American stranger who returned later to build both a bridge and a school. Using a wide variety of patterned papers and fabrics, Roth creates collages crowded with color and detail, casting groups of smiling, dark-eyed villagers and their welcome guest against steep, stony mountains. Closing with a scrapbook of captioned color location photos and an artist's note, this makes an effective discussion-starter for new and prereaders about waging peace. For middle readers, the adult title is also available in a version adapted by Sarah Thomson (Three Cups of Tea, $16.99, 978-0-8037-3392-3), which sometimes takes a patronizing tone (Mortenson, commenting on his hate mail: "'I expected something like this from an ignorant village mullah . . . .'") but also features both an update and a long interview with Mortenson's 12-year-old activist daughter, Amira. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews