Media Coverage

Big Book comes home to Groton, MA.!

COMMUNITY VIEWING OF BIG BOOK: PAGES FOR PEACE

UPDATE: THE BIG BOOK VIEWING HOURS IN GROTON EXTENDED!

The Big Book bookmakers team, the Pages for Peace Foundation, and the GDRMS Bookmakers and Dreamers Club are excited to offer a “Big Book: Pages for Peace” community viewing event. Big Book will be on display in the Prescott School gymnasium, 145 Main Street, Groton, MA 01450 as a thank you to all the hundreds of local citizens who have supported this project over the last 12 years. We invite you to come view this giant book, 12 feet tall and 20 feet wide when open, with 1071 pages of peace letters, artwork, poetry, songs, and other documents submitted to Big Book from all over the world. Two kiosks with digital versions of Big Book will accompany the display so that visitors will be able to view the book electronically.

The Big Book community event is dedicated to the Big Book project founder, peace club leader and teacher, Betsy Sawyer, who lost her battle with cancer on April 3, 2016. “Big Book: Pages for Peace” will be on display beginning Wednesday April 27th through Wednesday May 11th.

EXTENDED HOURS INCLUDE:

FRIDAY MAY 13 from 2pm to 4pm

MONDAY MAY 16 from 2pm to 4pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 18 from 2pm to 4pm

Boston Globe: “Big ambitions for world peace”

KAREN RIGGERT

From an October 5, 2025 article by Globe Correspondent Cindy Cantrell:

Ten years ago, fifth-grade teacher Betsy Sawyer formed an after-school writing club at Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School. When a student proposed a group project that might qualify for the Guinness World Records, the group set out to create the largest book in the world.

Another book holds the record, but their accomplishment is impressive.

“The Big Book: Pages for Peace” now contains 1,080 pages featuring 3,700 pieces of artwork plus letters, poems, songs, photos, and advice from individuals whom the Bookmakers and Dreamers Club asked for their opinions on world peace. Responders include the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Jimmy Carter, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, the rock group Green Day, veterans, teachers, and students throughout the world.

Portions of the nearly 2,000-pound book will be displayed at a fund-raiser with several guest speakers Wednesday from 6 to 10 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. According to Sawyer, all proceeds will go toward building a display stand for the book and other components of an exhibit to be sent on a world tour.

The entire article is available on the Globe website.