b'A Childrens Book Celebrates a School, a Legend, and a Way of Being in the WorldThe story of Far Brooks One and TwoBY TIA SWANSONT here are two Far Brooks. Itoccupiesto history. at the schools founding 75 yearsof Maplewood and Far Brook, the two men have One is the 75-year-old bastion ofIt lives in the memory of Brad Wiley, who wasbeenfriendsandneighborsformorethan20 progressiveeducationthata third graderyears, starting in Manhattan and including moves 9 acres in Short Hills.is a col- ago. He took walks and school trips across whatto Brooklyn, to Maplewood and then within Ma-lection of red buildings, playground,were then empty fields to that stream of long ago.plewood.ball field and half-swamp that is heldNow it also lives in a book dedicated to the school,The book follows three boys, the leader named dearbythethousandsofchildrento Wiley and to all that Far Brook is. Its title is TheBrad,onanadventuretothefarbrook.Along and their parents who have been part of its com- Far, Far, Far Brook. the way they discover and identify several types munity. Not far from the big city, just past the Southof trees, skunk cabbage and tadpoles. They spy a The other, the mythic Far Brook, was an ac- Mountain, theres a land with short hills and longchipmunk, a frog and water walkers. They find tual stream. It was, legend has it, the small water- valleys, the book begins. Along the side of onetheir way back by following the footprints theyve way a half mile from campus that gave the schoolof those hills is a cluster of little red buildingsaleft in the soggy wetland.its name. This stream was not big or importantmagical place called Far Brook School. When asked what he wanted the story to say enough to have an actual name. Its moniker de- The book was written by two men from Maple- aboutFarBrook,Sergenttalksaboutthekids scribes its distance from the school. It was not thewood. Doak Sergent, who sent his son and daugh- senseofadventure,theirabilitytosolveprob-small stream that still runs through campus, norter to Far Brook, is a trustee. His co-author, Ro- lems to find their way home and their resilience, even the one a ways on from that. It was the thirdberto Olazagasti, who also illustrated the book, isall skills the school emphasizes. One of the most stream, the far brook, as it were. The stream wasnot just a Far Brook parent. He is the schools artimportant lessons, however, is the setting. Part of long ago paved over by development, all but lostteacher. In the small world that defines so muchFar Brooks philosophy is that kids get outdoors, 28/ matters magazine / holiday 2024'