Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea , and: Three Cups of Tea: Young Reader’s Edition (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea, and: Three Cups of Tea: Young Reader’s Edition Elizabeth Bush Mortenson, Greg. Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea. by Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth. illus. by Susan L. Roth. Dial, 2009 32p. ISBN 978-0-8037-3058-8 $16.99 R 5–9 yrs Three Cups of Tea: Young Reader’s Edition. by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. ad. by Sarah Thomson. Puffin, 2009 209p. Paper ed. ISBN 978-0-14-241412-5 $8.99 Ad Gr. 5–8 Two children’s adaptations of Mortenson’s adult book Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time assure that nobody with an interest in his philanthropical work in Afghanistan will be left behind. Three Cups for middle-grade readers covers in engrossing detail how Mortenson, a nurse with an avocation for mountain climbing, was separated from his party on a descent from K2, wandered among Afghan villagers who tended him during his recovery, returned a year later to fulfill a promise to build a local school, and ended up making educational and economic development a full-time, foundation-supported career. However fascinated readers may be by the dangers, setbacks, and amazing hospitality Mortenson encountered, the frequent testimonials to his sterling character become somewhat wearying and may cause the audience to wonder just how much of this work Mortenson, credited here with a fair measure of humility, himself actually wrote. Listen, presented in picture-book format, is at once more narrowly focused and successful. An unnamed spokesperson for the children of Korphe, where Mortenson built the first school, serves as narrator and tells about “Dr.” Greg’s arrival in the village, the necessity of building a bridge before constructing the school, and how the villagers themselves participated in the building efforts. Without diminishing Mortenson’s contribution, Roth makes it clear that money and materials were a stimulus to the villagers, but the planning, labor, and maintenance of these communal amenities were very much in local hands. Intricate collages of handmade papers and natural materials invite close inspection, and a scrapbook of densely captioned photographs help children visualize the important players in the drama. A note explains the way Afghan material culture influenced Roth’s artwork, and a bibliography is also appended. [End Page 291] Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois