From 2014 to 2016, babies born at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge were given a copy of the book “The Dot.” Now, its author Peter H. Reynolds is inviting those kids to meet him.
The “Dot Kids,” as he calls them, are invited to bring their books and meet Reynolds at the Museum of Fine Arts on Sept. 12 for International Dot Day.
“To see them at an age where they [can] not only read, but understand the meaning of the book [is] truly special,” said Reynolds, who has met a few “Dot Kids” at his Dedham bookstore, The Blue Bunny.
Reynolds, who lived in Cambridge at the beginning of his publishing career, first found out about the program when thousands of copies from his book store were ordered for the hospital.
Gifting newborns a copy of “The Dot” began in 2014 when one baby was given a gift to mark the 100th birthday of a woman who was born at Mount Auburn in 1914. After that, the hospital was inspired to give something to all babies born at its Bain Birthing Center.
In “The Dot,” published in 2003, a child discovers her creativity after a teacher tells her to “make a mark and see where it takes you.” Each copy the hospital gave included a bookplate with the baby’s name and birthdate.
“The Dot” program at the hospital was discontinued in 2016 when the supply of donated copies ran out. The hospital could not locate a record of who made the donations. Today, babies born in the hospital’s Special Care Nursery are still gifted books that are donated during an annual book drive, according to a spokesperson from the hospital.
Full Circle
Years later, “Dot Kids” began visiting The Blue Bunny and showing Reynolds their inscribed copies of his book. “To see this ‘Dot baby’ all grown up, grown into a reader, standing, beaming in front of me was such a joy,” Reynolds said in an interview with Cambridge Day.
When Cantabrigian Diana Rastegayeva gave birth to a “Dot Kid” in 2016, her daughter received a copy of “The Dot,” which was “a sweet surprise,” she said. “All [three of] my kids have loved the book. I think it has an amazing message, and all my kids are very creative and so I’ve reminded them of the book at times where they get frustrated with the quality of their work.”
Now that “Dot Kids” are 10 to 12 years old, Reynolds wants to know where the book and its lesson took them, he said. “We are connected even if we haven’t met in person. And we always will be because our dots were connected from the very first day [they] were born.”
On Sept. 12, the Museum of Fine Arts will be free to enter for International Dot Day, a celebration of creativity. The day will include a story walk to read book pages throughout the museum, art making opportunities, a book reading and signing with Reynolds, and a musical performance by the School of Honk, a brass band based in Cambridge and Somerville that dresses in polka dots.
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