Story-time at the Lewiston Public Library on Thursday, September 23 began with a bang-the banging of red rhythm sticks, to be exact. Some of the children in the room had never been to the library before, but in no time at all they had found the secret stash of musical instruments. "Story Lady" Cindy Larock deftly used the twinkling of a triangle to bring order to the scene and let each child in turn hold the instrument until even the littlest heads were turned. Then she introduced the book for the day, A Somali Alphabet. Fosiya Diriye, a Somali woman who also speaks English, French, and Arabic, read the book's other title: Alfabeetadda Soomaaliyeed.

A Somali Alphabet was the result of a 2001 collaboration between Portland Adult Education and the New Mainers Book Project of the Council's Born to Read program. When Roxanne Reichel, an Americorps*VISTA volunteer for Finders/Seekers Child Care Resource Development Center, heard about the alphabet book, she saw it as an opportunity for early literacy outreach to Lewiston's Somali community. Supported in part by a discretionary grant from the MHC, Reichel invited children and their caregivers to the special story-time with Larock and Diriye.

Some pages of the book prompted discussion among the Somali mothers. For instance, xaaqin is a great word to illustrate the letter x, but it's not the only word for a small straw brush. Cilaan, or henna, inspired brainstorming about a story-time with henna-painting. But every word, read expressively in two languages with very different sounds, held the interest of the twenty children at the program.

After the story, Larock led a bilingual rendition of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Instead of "Old MacDonald had a goat," the children and mothers sang "Old MacDonald had a ri." To the delight of all the singers, the "baa-baa" of the ri sounded just like the "baa-baa" of the goat.

Thanks to Reichel's efforts, every family in attendance left with a package of Somali cookies, a copy of A Somali Alphabet (provided by the Council), and a good understanding of the conversation and stimulation that the book could generate.

(article by MHC Born to Read Program Assistant Brita Zitin, who attended the event)

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Philanthropy comes in many forms. It is the golden gesture from hearts devoted to making the world a more humane, culturally engaged, and beautiful place. New Books, New Readers, the MHC's reading and discussion program for Maine adults who are challenged by reading, explores enriching books with simple language but deep ideas. MHC scholars lead reading and discussion groups and help all participants feel confident in their ideas. For many New Books, New Readers participants, these books are the first they have ever owned.

New Books, New Readers is philanthropic in the daily workings of the program itself, but programs that make a difference like this always cost money.

An angel of philanthropy steps in: the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. New Books, New Readers is now starting the sixth year of consistent funding from this nationally known leader of educational innovations. Under Nellie Mae, New Books, New Readers has expanded from holding 11 programs in 1999 to 45 in 2004. Thanks to Nellie Mae's major funding, New Books, New Readers is all over the map. So far this year, the program will serve sites in Androscoggin, Aroostook, Cumberland, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Oxford, Penobscot, Piszataquis, Somerset, Waldo, and York Counties.

The latest major expansion is with ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students at Portland Adult Education. Last year, New Books, New Readers served two classes of between 20 and 30 students each, and this year will be serving seven classes for a possible total of 175 students. The MHC scholars participating in this expansion are Lorrayne Carroll (member of the Department of English at University of Southern Maine), Joseph Medley (member of the Department of Economics at USM), Kate Kennedy (author and former English teacher at Portland High School), Carolyn Shepard (former ESL instructor in Southern Maine), and Carolyn Sloan (the MHC's amazingly brilliant and tireless assistant to just about everyone, who, in a past life, was an elementary and middle school teacher).

Thank you, Nellie Mae.

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Enter the strange, imaginary world of the "Sorrowful Knight" for the MHC's 2005 Winter Weekend. The text: Edith Grossman's new translation of Don Quixote. This book has offered literature one of its most oddly endearing and memorable characters. Cervantes's "Sorrowful Knight" wanders the 16th century Spanish countryside unable to distinguish reality from his imagined sense of the world. Like Emma Bovary or Pushkin's Tatiana, Don Quixote is a character whose actions are guided by the books he has read. This is a strange and funny tale, and Edith Grossman's 2003 translation is honest to the book's inherent absurdity and the author's daring wit.

The Winter Weekend takes place at Bowdoin College in Brunswick on March 11 and March 12, 2005. Reservations ($200 per person) include seminars and discussion groups, a hardcover copy of Grossman's Don Quixote, and meals inspired by the text. Space is always very limited for this event, and though it reads quickly, this classic is a big book. To reserve your place at the 2005 Winter Weekend, please contact the Maine Humanities Council at (207)773-5051 or mail your check to the Maine Humanities Council, 674 Brighton Avenue, Portland, ME 04102-1012.

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MHC Grant-Funded Event Calendar

This is a new addition to Notes from an Open Book, listing details of programs we fund in whole or in part by MHC grants. We hope you have the opportunity to experience one of these projects and see first hand the difference that the MHC grant program makes.

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Harriet Putnam Henry as a young child

On September 11, 2004, Harriet Putnam Henry, the first woman to serve as a judge in Maine, died at her home in Scarborough, Maine, after a battle with ovarian cancer that lasted over two years. She was 80.

Harriet joined the Maine Humanities Council's Board in 1991, staying on through 2001, and served as chair from 1997 to 1999. She was a passionate member of the Council's community and a great advocate for its work. Everyone who knew Harriet has a story about her that reflects her sharp intellect and strong character.

I met Harriet about a week and a half before her death. As the new Director of Development, I had been trying to schedule a meeting with the esteemed judge after whom our Center the Book had been named. I had spoken with Harriet on the phone several times, mostly to hear, in an elegant Kentucky drawl faded somewhat after years of life in Maine, that she was unable to make our meetings. Sometimes chemotherapy had taken too much out of her, and sometimes she had other things to do with her family.

"I am so sorry to stand you up," she would say, and promise to drop by when she was next able to. The meeting ended up taking place during the final stages of her illness at Harriet's home, and I went with Deedee Schwartz and Victoria Bonebakker, executive and associate directors of the Council.

I stepped through the front door somewhat apprehensively, unsure of whether I would make Harriet uncomfortable (I surmised that a very ill person might not like to meet a brand-new staff member in such circumstances), and I was a bit concerned that a woman stamped with signs of disease would replace in my mind the proud, witty-looking one whose picture hangs in our lobby.

I was relieved at once to see a bright-eyed Harriet Henry, who had clear energy in her gestures and in the alert way she sat. Her handshake was firm. She wanted to hear not only about our new development plan but also the major innovations in it, and listened and talked with obvious sharpness of thought.

Near the end of our meeting, she told Deedee Schwartz that she wanted to return some Council books. Deedee insisted on getting them. So did Harriet, who actually got up to find them. It was incredibly heartening to meet this extraordinary person of whom I had heard so many good things, but also to see how very much engaged with life Harriet was near the end of hers.

All of us at the MHC offer our deepest condolences to Harriet's family.

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Deadlines for the regular and discretionary grant program are rolling. The next major grants deadline is October 10, 2004 (draft) and November 10, 2004 (final).

Africa: An Introduction to a Continent: $1,000
Primary Source, Watertown MA

The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival: $1,000
SPACE, Portland, ME

Museum in the Streets: $1,000
Franco-American Heritage Society, Waterville

"Closing the Circle" -A Documentary on the Damariscotta Mills Alewife Run: $1,000
Maine Rivers, Augusta

History Lectures at 18th Century Living History Encampment at Pownalborough Courthouse: $500
Lincoln County Historical Association, Wiscasset

The Apple and Pine Tassel: Historical Photographs of Sister States Aomori and Maine: $500
Marie-Aomori Sister State Advisory Council, Portland

Aeneid Reading by Stanley Lombardo: $500
University of Southern Maine, Portland

Portrait of the Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing Remembered: $500
Leonard R. Craig Art Gallery, Unity

"Special Storytime with A Somali Alphabet Book": $420
Community Concepts-Finders/Seekers, Auburn

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"Though Tilbury House released Unsettled Past, Unsettled Future: The Story of Maine Indians last May, the MHC just received our first in-house copy of this book by Neil Rolde. Tilbury Press writes:

Rolde explores what we know about the prehistory period in Maine, the first contact between Europeans and Indians, how wars and treaties affected tribal lands, and why Maine Indians were treated differently from many of the other tribes in the United States … There are many generous voices in this book, sharing their stories and hopes and fears. It's a privilege to listen to them and broaden our understanding of the issues faced by Native Americans in Maine.

Neil Rolde is the author of The Interrupted Forest: A History of Maine's Wildlands; The Baxters of Maine: Downeast Visionaries; An Illustrated History of Maine; Maine: A Narrative History; So You Think You Know Maine; and other books. He is a former MHC Board member.

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"It's like I get a second chance with all of them. They're like my grandchildren"

— Frank LeClair, Born to Read RSVP volunteer since 1999, on how reading to children is "a joy." Frank told the MHC that if we paid him twenty dollars each time he read, it wouldn't be worth as much as hearing from the parents of the children he reads to, who say that because of him, their kids aren't happy unless they're read to constantly at home.

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Notes from an Open Book welcomes feedback from its readers. Please contact Diane Magras by email at diane@mainehumanities.org or by phone at (207)773-5051 ext. 208 (toll-free 1-866-637-3233, ext. 208) to respond.