“The Keeper of Wild Words” StoryWalk ®

Carver Memorial Library and Friends of Sears Island are collaborating on a summer StoryWalk® for children to enjoy along the Homestead Trail on Sears Island. As families walk along the woods path, they will find posts with laminated pages of the book The Keeper of Wild Words, written by Brooke Smith and illustrated by Madeline Kloepper. This beautiful book is written to appeal to kids ages 5-9, but will be enjoyed by all ages. The author found inspiration for this story when she read that over 100 natural words had been removed from the Oxford Junior Dictionary, because they weren’t considered relevant to today’s youth. In this story, a grandmother takes her granddaughter on a walk to find some of these wild words out in nature, to deepen an appreciation for the environment, and to teach her that we can keep special things alive by speaking their names and remembering them. After reading this story, we hope families will look for their own “wild words” as they walk back through the woods to the parking lot!

The StoryWalk® will be available from July 1 – 31, and directions to the start of the story can be found by the kiosk just beyond the island gate. From start to finish, the story will cover approximately a half mile of the trail. Sears Island is located off Route 1 on Sears Island Road, just east of downtown Searsport. For more information on the Carver Memorial Library, visit www.carverlibrary.org. The StoryWalk^® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg Hubbard Library.

Photo:  The Keeper of Wild Words by Brook Smith, courtesy of Carver Memorial Library