Hopping on the ‘Busload of Books Tour’

Posted

We’ve all heard of fairies who have turned pumpkins into coaches, marionette puppets into real boys, or even put some cash under our pillow when we lose a tooth. But what about a fairy that encourages us to read?

Unlike the Fairy Godmother, the Blue Fairy and the Tooth Fairy, the Book Fairies of Freeport are indeed quite real, promoting literacy across Long Island by providing free reading material for those in need. And last week, they brought a family of traveling authors to their downtown book bank as part of their “Busload of Books Tour.”

Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr, their four children, and their dog Dumbles at the Book Fairies Freeport Book Bank at 70 N. Main St. The family is traversing the United States, giving away 25,000 of their own published books, and helping to hand out thousands more through different partnerships. The entire voyage is almost out of a book itself, as Swanson, Behr, the kids and Dumbles live and commutes inside a tiny home bus.

“Our entire family is so excited to be spending the day with the Book Fairies, at their book bank, helping to sort books,” Swanson said. “We so admire their important work and are grateful to be able to partner with them to help raise awareness for book deserts and the lack of equal access to books throughout the country.”

The couple are probably best known for their book, “Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie of Perfection,” about a third-grader who takes a fortune he found inside a cookie, and sends him on an adventure the entire family would enjoy.

Ben is actually a part of a series of books, highlighting some of his struggles understanding the meaning of words — and how they are used. He’s known to take metaphors literally — something Swanson told the Washington Post last year that he can very much relate to.

“I was a lot like Ben as a kid,” he said. “I often wrestled with metaphors and what they meant. And I also felt I had to do everything perfectly. But is perfection really the secret of a good life?”

The free event attracted children from across Freeport, but was geared toward those coming from low-income communities. Many live in “book deserts,” a place where it is difficult to obtain books and other reading material, especially if one does not have access to a car or other modes of transportation. 

“Book deserts are geographic areas where there isn’t equal access to books,” said Eileen Minogue, the executive director of Book Fairies. “There are no books in their homes. There’s limited books in schools. They might not have access to libraries.”

Swanson and Behr want to raise awareness for these book deserts, Minogue added.

“We were super excited to be their choice to come and visit with us that Sunday,” she said.

Volunteers helped assemble more than 160 boxes of books intended for those lacking access to them otherwise not only on Long Island, but in New York City. Each year, more than 1,200 volunteers work with Book Fairies to collect, organize, and pack boxes of books for classrooms and personal libraries.

Book Fairies receives some 750,000 books each year, with those still in good shape re-distributed to communities that may have never seen them otherwise.

That includes local schools, shelters, soup kitchens, even prisons. A number of books even ship overseas to other countries through the U.S.-Africa Children’s Fellowship.

That particular program provides books in fair and average condition to countries like South Africa, Somaliland and Kenya.

But no group can process all those books and give so much back without help.

And a lot of it — something Book Fairies is always looking for. That can come in the form of time, money or even books.

“One in four New Yorkers is identified as functionally illiterate, and the cost of and lack of access to books contribute to the cycle of illiteracy that stems from poverty,” Minogue said. “We are working every day to fill the void where equal access to books is concerned, and we’ll distribute almost 600,000 books this year alone.”

To learn how to become involved with Book Fairies, visit TheBookFairies.org.