Join us outside to read Can You Hear the Plants Speak? by Nicholas Hummingbird and Julia Wasson. Then, receive your own copy of the book to take home! This special outdoor story time is a part of the Library’s and Merck Forest & Farmland Center’s programming for the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read. Read more about the program and view the growing list of NEA Big Read events here.

About the book:

What do we learn from plants when we listen to them speaking? Indigenous plantsman Nicholas Hummingbird calls on the legacy of his great-grandparents to remember how one drop of rain, one seed, one plant can renew a cycle of hope and connection—for him and for each of us.

Perfect for readers of Sy Montgomery, debut authors Nicholas Hummingbird and Julia Wasson joyfully proclaim even the youngest person can be an earth protector. With gorgeous illustrations from Rock Your Mocs artist Madelyn Goodnight, Can You Hear the Plants Speak? encourages us to engage with the natural world.

This event has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read. NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. The goals of the NEA Big Read are to inspire meaningful conversations, celebrate local creativity, elevate a wide variety of voices and perspectives, and build stronger connections in each community.