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

by Greg Mortenson, Susan Roth (Illustrator)

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.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Cultural, Biography, Pakistan, Inspirational

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 22, 2009

About the author

Greg Mortenson is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute, Pennies For Peace, and co-author of New York Times bestseller ‘Three Cups of Tea’ (www.threecupsoftea.com) which has sold 3 million copies, been published in 39 countries, and a New York Times bestseller for three years since its January 2007 release, and Time Magazine Asia Book of The Year.

Mortenson’s new book, Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan, was released by Viking on December 1st, 2009, and debuted as # 2 on the NY Times hardcover bestseller list.

As of 2010, Mortenson has established over 131 schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to over 58,000 children, including 44,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before.

In 2009, Mortenson received Pakistan’s highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan (“Star of Pakistan”) for his humanitarian effort to promote girls education in rural areas for fifteen years.

Several bi-partisan U.S. Congressional representatives twice nominated Mortenson for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 and 2010.

Mortenson was born in 1957, and grew up on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (1958 to 1973). His father Dempsey, founded Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) www.kcmc.ac.tz a hospital, and mother, Jerene, founded the International School Moshi.

He served in the U.S. Army in Germany (1977-1979), where he received the Army Commendation Medal, and later graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1983.

In July 1992, Mortenson’s sister, Christa, died from a massive seizure after a lifelong struggle with epilepsy on the eve of a trip to visit Dysersville, Iowa, where the baseball movie, ‘Field of Dreams’, was filmed in a cornfield.

To honor his sister’s memory, in 1993, Mortenson climbed Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second highest mountain in the Karakoram range.

While recovering from the climb in a village called Korphe, Mortenson met a group of children sitting in the dirt writing with sticks in the sand, and made a promise to help them build a school.

From that rash promise, grew a humanitarian campaign, in which Mortenson has dedicated his life to promote education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

His work has not been without difficulty. In 1996, he survived an eight day armed kidnapping by the Taliban in Pakistan’ Northwest Frontier Province tribal areas, escaped a 2003 firefight with feuding Afghan warlords by hiding for eight hours under putrid animal hides in a truck going to a leather-tanning factory.

He has overcome two fatwehs from enraged Islamic mullahs, endured CIA investigations, and also received threats from fellow Americans after 9/11, for helping Muslim children with education.

Mortenson is entrusted to the rural communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he has gained the respect of Islamic clerics, military and militia commanders, government officials and tribal chiefs from his tireless effort to champion education, especially for girls.

He is married to Dr. Tara Bishop, a clinical psychologist, and they live with their two children in Montana.

Reviews

[Debbie W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoyed Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time and Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, both by Greg Mortenson, I highly recommend this lovely picture book for the children in your life. Beautifully illustrated, this story is quite inspirational in its comprehensible text.

My Grade 3 students loved the story and illustrations!

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I originally read Greg Mortenson's Listen to the Wind as a library book a goodly number of years ago (probably in 2010 or so), and while I truly do very much appreciate and even enjoy the majority of the author's presented narrative, I really cannot say that Susan L. Roth's accompanying collage-like fabric based and inspired illustrations are all that much to my personal tastes (rather unclearly defined at best, often rendering the human figures into almost shapeless, featureless, emotionless entities that I do not and really cannot all that much take aesthetic pleasure in or even consider with even a modicum of personal interest and emotional attachment).

And while the text of Listen to the Wind, while the story itself does, indeed, flow inspiringly and with a sense of humanity and dignity, I had in 2010 neither read Greg Mortensen's Three Cups of Tea (on which this picture book is loosely based) nor become aware of the rather massive amount of controversy regarding and stemming from the same. Therefore, while I still do think that Listen to the Wind is an uplifting and even an important tale to share with children, I do recommend the book ONLY with the necessary caveat that the controversies engendered by the author's Tree Cups of Tea (which now appear to actually have been at least partially legitimate issues and concerns) should, no they must be taken into consideration and openly discussed (especially if reading Listen to the Wind with or to slightly older children).

[Cindy Kelly Benabderrahman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the picture book version of the story based on the true adventure of Dr. Greg Mortenson, who was injured on a mountain in Pakistan, and who was helped to recover by the people of a poor village in the mountains. When he was well enough to leave, he asked how he could repay the people, and was told to “listen to the wind” to find his answer. He did, and he was inspired to go back to the village and build a school. He has built many schools now all over Pakistan for children who live in villages too poor to have afforded one. This is a heart-touching story of love and humanity, and one that is illustrated by Susan Roth’s beautiful collages, which were inspired by handmade papers and the people from the land in which Dr. Mortenson found help and refuge. These people use and reuse every scrap of everything in their world, and so Roth’s collages have an even deeper meaning.

The story is very simplified, which makes this version of the story suitable for the youngest of readers / listeners, and it stays away from heavy descriptions about the significance of education for the children in the mountains of Pakistan. The book almost glosses over the poverty by highlighting the richness of making do instead of the bleakness of doing without, but it’s a glass half-full or half-empty choice, and I think that Mortenson was correct in saving the heavier things for the version for middle readers. There is also a version written for adults, which makes this book a great choice for family reading—a version for every age group.

[Readersaurus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. The folks who put together this book missed a real opportunity. Bleh storytelling. The writing does nothing to convey to kids the conditions under which Korphe children tried to go to school, or the isolation in which they lived. The amount of effort the entire community put in to make the school happen does not come through. They also completely left out the efforts of American schoolchildren to raise funds for this and other Pakistan school projects, and contact information for Pennies for Peace & CAI is relegated to a photo caption, like an afterthought. American kid readers are left thinking 'so?' and there is no encouragement for them to take action of their own. This book will probably get purchased for a lot of libraries b/c it's such a hot topic, but it'll get weeded, too. Too bad.
Oh yeah, and the illustrations, while "interesting," some are photographed and reproduced sooooo small that there is no hope of children in a storytime setting figuring out what they are supposed to represent. You have to have your face right up in the book.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picturebook based on the Story of Greg Mortenson's school building project in Pakistan. While this book tells the essential story of the task of getting a school built in the mountain village of Korphe, it does not convey the personal struggle and commitment of Dr. Greg. The book doesn't convey to American children the significance and life changing effect a school and a teacher would have on the village and its children. The illustrator chose collage art to illustrate the story as an imitation of the villagers habit of using and reusing every available resource and material they find. The result for me were illustrations that were sometimes confusing and murky. This is a wonderful story that should be shared. Most U.S. children know little or nothing about life in the mountains of Pakistan. A more passionate text and more realistic illustations would have made the story more meaningful for American children.

[Kairia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize this book was based off a true story and I have yet to verify the authenticity of that claim.

I enjoyed the art style of this picture book but the presentation was wanting. Some images were quite beautifully done while others were confusing in comparison to the story that was being told. At the end of the book, photographs of the real events were shown, along with additional facts.

I can't say I'd necessarily recommend this book but I don't think it was a bad book overall.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely love the collage style of illustration. It makes for beautiful pictures and works well with the story - especially with the extra tidbits given at the end of the book that talk more about the culture of the village of Korphe, Pakistan. It is a true story based on Dr. Greg Mortenson and "Three Cups of Tea" where he builds schools in rural war-torn countries. I want to rate it higher because of the art, but the story itself lacks something in the writing, it's not as compelling as I would like. Probably because it is just condensed/adapted from his book for adults, although I haven't read that one either.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be fair I found it more memorable for the art ... not that I don't think the story is amazing. But this is one of the COOLEST examples of collage I've ever seen. Loved it. Hope the art will attract kids and they will learn something about caring for others as they read it.

[Richard Dominguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little story about gratitude and promises kept.
Easy reading and fast paced kids will like reading and having it read to them.

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Versi bergambar dan ringkas dari Three Cups of Tea. Unik sih ilustrasinya, pakai teknik kolase. Ada foto-foto berwarna Desa Korphe dan sekitar juga, yang nggak ada di Three Cups of Tea edisi pembaca muda yang kupunya.

[Nancy O'Toole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listen to the Wind retells the story of Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time for younger readers in the form of a picture book. In this story, an American nurse becomes lost on a mountain and wanders into a village in Pakistan. The villagers find him and nurse him back to health. In return, he helps out at the people with his skills, and helps to make a school for the children. The story translates surprisingly well to a picture book format. Making the decision to tell the story from the perspective of the children, and not Greg Mortenson, makes it easy for children to relate to the story, as they can point on ways in which their lives and similar and different than the school children in the story. The art is really unique as they are actually collages made from found materials. This decision was inspired by the traditional hats of the area. Occasionally, the illustrations can be difficult to interpret as a result of this art choice, but for the most part, this decision is quite successful. After the story is a brief scrapbook about the story behind Listen to the Wind, which presents pictures of maps of the people and country of Pakistan, giving the reader a better look at the real people presented in the stories, as well as what happened after the story in Listen to the Wind closes. There is also a brief note from the artists which tells of her process in making the collages.

NOTE- This review was written for a class

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The adult version of this book Three Cups of Tea One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time is on the book lists of many a friend. Eventually I will get to this book, but recently I found this in the children's room of the library we usually visit. On a whim, I checked it to get a glimpse of this popular story. I know this is the ultra watered down version but for now it made for a quick read that captivated all three of my children. The artwork is also very cool. The illustrator took scraps of paper and other "debris" and basically recycled it into the collages on each page. I highly recommend this book. There is also a chapter book version for older children: Three Cups of Tea Young Reader's Edition.

[Malissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

a wonderful adaptation of Three cups of Tea for children to understand. I think no American child will understand the amazing gift of education that is so readily available in our country, at least my kids don't get it yet, and the obstacles that everyone had to overcome. It is hard to put your mind around poverty and stifling religious rule like these children deal with everyday, but it was so beautiful to see it all come together. The mosaics are Stunning in this book and I LOVE the scrapbook at the end of real children, the schools, and of Dr. Greg.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this book is beautiful. The illustrations are compelling, colorful, creative--made of absolutely stunning collages of fabric and other materials, photographed and set. And the story... I read it to my preschoolers, fighting back tears as I read (both times they asked me to read it!). And then we talked about what it would be like to really build your own school from the ground up. I think it deserves a couple more readings with them to see what we can do about having it grab their imaginations a little more. What a project we could make of it!

[Lauren Johnson]

WOW! What an inspirational book! “Listen to the Wind” is an adaptation of “Three Cups of Tea” that has been created for younger students. This text takes the story of Dr. Greg Mortenson and his mission to promote peace one school at a time and presents it in the form of a picture book. Readers learn of the struggles children in a Pakistan village have. The story begins with the villagers taking care of Dr. Greg as he wanders into their village after being lost in the mountains. The story continues to inspire readers as Dr. Greg helps the village to construct a school for the children. In this biography Dr. Greg is able to describe his journey of the building of the school and then later explain how he has since overseen the building of 131 other schools.

This book would be an excellent text for students across all elementary grades. For younger grades teachers could use this as a read aloud to help spark discussion on the comparison of different countries, and cultures. In addition to the amazing story of Dr. Greg and the impact he has made on this specific village, the illustrations in this text are not one that are used very often. The illustrator uses collages to depict the story. I enjoyed reading the artist’s note on how she chose the materials for the project. Instead of using her typical expensive white paper to mount her work on she made it a point to use “found” or recycled materials. This helps the reader to make a connection with the text. The resourcefulness of the collages speaks to the resourcefulness of the villagers. I would use this text to introduce the concept of collage to my students.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting adaptation of Greg Mortenson's first book, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace -- One School at a Time for a younger audience. I have read both the original story as well as Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan and I am moved by this man's efforts. Efforts that have encouraged villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan to take ownership and responsibility for the education of their young children, especially girls, and the development of skills for adults to enable them to provide for and support their families. I see that there's a young reader's version, too (Three Cups of Tea) and we may read that one as well. Our girls are fascinated by the concept of Pennies for Peace (http://www.penniesforpeace.org) and although they are very young still, I will encourage them if they want to set up a collection at their school. This book doesn't go into it in depth, but I know that other such collections have raised a substantial amount toward educating children in these areas.

As for this book, it is written with the younger child in mind, with a simple narrative, colorful collages, and a nice pictorial/chronological explanation of Greg Mortenson's journey. We enjoyed reading this book together and I loved the illustrator's explanation at the end of how everything gets used in those remote villages - the ultimate in reutilization of materials! I hope it inspires our girls to do more of the same.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of Greg Mortenson's journey to Korphe, a village in Pakistan. The story is told from the perspective of the children that live there. Prior to Mortenson's visit to Korphe, the village did not have a school building. Children were taught outside. Without school supplies, the children wrote in the dirt with sticks. Mortenson helps the people of Korphe to build a schoolhouse, and Julia Bergman, a librarian, helps to supply the school with books. Now the children of Korphe have a building to learn in, books to read, and pencils to write with. The last couple of pages of the book, titled "Korphe Scrapbook" use photographs and maps to give the reader more information about the village of Korphe and Mortenson's school projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Susan Roth uses paper, fabric, and found materials to create the book's gorgeous and colorful illustrations.

Listen to the Wind is a non-fiction book, but is written in a picture book fashion, making it a wonderful book to use to introduce young children to new cultures. I would consider this an essential book to include in an booklist dedicated to stories about children from around the world. This would also be a good book to recommend to younger children (K-4 is the recommended reading level) who are interested in learning about the Middle East.

[Katina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is told by the children from the small town of Korphe, Pakistan. The children share a story about a man named Greg Mortenson who was hiking in the mountains near by the town. He became lost and a man from the village brought him back to health. He spent days talking and learning from everyone in the village. The children showed him where they have school: outside, three days a week from a teacher use travels from village to village to teach the children. But the students still studied the ohter days. He was very grateful to all in the people in village that took care of him and welcomed him to their village. He promised that he would one day come back and visit.He wanted to do something special for the people of Korphe but he did not know what to do. When he asked the wise man what to do he replied, "Listen to the Wind." He listened to the wind and heard the vioces of the children. A year later, Dr. Greg came back and told the village he wanted to build a school for the children to learn in a real school with materials. This was very inspiring story of what little effort can make such a great impact. I recommend this book for students in K-2.The illustrations were made by a paper collage. Students will find so interesting to view. This simple book has a large message.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the summer the school where I teach took on a “One Book, One School” reading project. All children, family, faculty, and staff were asked to read the ability-appropriate version of Greg Mortenson’s book Three Cups of Tea. Listen to the Wind is the version my kindergarten students read. It is not the most compelling storytelling I’ve ever read, but my students responded very positively to the book. The language was age appropriate so they could understand what was happening, and the illustrations are just beautiful (Susan Roth is one of my favorites!), through too detailed for a stand alone read-aloud. Over the span of several weeks, the children continued to pick up the book and retell the story to themselves and one another. The book seemed to help them transgress a world of difference to feel connected to the children of Korphe and their story.

[Bismarck Public Library]

"Listen to the Wind" is based on the experiences of Dr. Gregory Mortensen who is widely known for his efforts in building schools for children living in poor villages in Pakistan. The illustrations are from collages created by Susan L. Roth.

Dr. Mortenson also wrote a book about his experiences for adult readers, titled "Three Cups of Tea."

CLICK HERE to find "Listen to the Wind" in Bismarck Public Library's online catalog.

CLICK HERE to find "Three Cups of Tea" in Bismarck Public Library's online catalog.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the picture book version of the author's Three Cups of Tea. I must read that book now, because the picture book left me with questions: How did he come to be in Pakistan in the first place? How did he get the materials together? And I want to know more about the librarian. I'd give the picture book 5 stars except that I found Susan Roth's illustrations to be unclear in spots, so that I couldn't tell what was going on. The photos at the end helped. This was an inspiring story that I enjoyed very much. Recommended!

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Three cups of Tea and feeling inspired, I got this from the library to read to my kids. My 6 year old wasn't that interested in it, and he usually loves books I read to him. However, I still think it is a story that inspires and I'm glad it's in children's form.

[Leanne Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and a half stars. This is an excellent introduction for students running a Pennies for Peace program. I am so glad they created this book, which just came out on January 22, 2009. It is appropriate for all children as an intro, and the photos with captions at the end are very helpful. The illustrations throughout are truly breathtaking. The kids loved it, too.

[Mary Etta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like to have liked the book more than I did. I'm looking forward to sharing it with children to see if they appreciate the collage illustrations better than I have at this point and also to see what they understand of the story. I loved reading "Three Cups of Tea" and admire Greg Mortenson, but for whatever reason this just doesn't click.

[Faith Bevitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to my god son since I love the adult version. The artwork in the book was beautiful. I wish that the photos were dispersed through out the book instead of at the end. Also, I think the book was a little too deep and gladly unrealistic to my six year old god son. He acted like he had ants in his pants and couldn't wait for the book to be over.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mia read the first page, and I read her the rest. Mia had a lot to say about the book, and was able to connect the story to the Peace Project her Girlscout troop has been involved in for a few years. We talked about what it must be like to study outside, writing your lessons in the mud, without books. We will look at the Pennies for Peace website together tonight.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Greg Mortenson fan and a librarian, I was thrilled to add this picture book to my collection. I was already sold on Mortenson's inspiring story and am so pleased to make it accessible to my younger readers. The paper cut illustrations are incredible. This is my favorite book of the year.

[Mariah Marie]

I read this book in my social studies class to get an idea of what the young-readers addition would be like ( :

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young children's version of Greg Mortenson's story about building a school in remote Pakistan. Beautiful artwork designed to reflect the culture of Pakistan's Balti people.

[Sarah Rogers]

Summary: This is a true story about the Pakistani village of Korphe. The children of Korphe didn't have a school or any supplies, until one day a stranger named Greg Mortensen stumbled into their village. He had lost his way while hiking up their mountains and was sick and weak. Once the people of Korphe nursed him back to health, they came to find out he was a nurse himself. He helped to heal the sick people of Korphe, and they started to call him Dr. Greg. One day he visited the wisest man in their village, Haji Ali, who told Dr. Greg that if he listened to the wind, he could find something special he could do for Korphe. At that moment, he began to hear the children learning their lessons outside on the ground, writing with sticks. He knew then that he needed to build them a new school. A year later, Dr. Greg came back to deliver supplies for the new school, but there was no bridge strong enough to transport all their materials. Dr. Greg and all the people in the village came together to build a new bridge, and brick by brick they finally got to build their new school.

Evaluation: This is a great book because it not only tells a good story, but it also exposes readers to a new culture. The Korphe people's way of living is different than ours because of the different geographical factors, less availability to building materials, and advances in technology. This would be a great book to use in the classroom for this very reason. In addition to exposing us to the culture, the theme of this story is also worthwhile. The book reminds us of the importance of being kind without expecting anything in return.

Teaching Idea: This book could be used to teach about maps or even foreign countries. The teacher could do a read aloud and then use a map or globe to locate Pakistan. After locating Pakistan, the students can take some time to explore some of the map features and compare them to what was seen and discussed in the book.