What has swimming to do with reading? How can a well-known actor join to a successful athlete? The answer is not obvious, but very simple: community and POKET books.
Miklós Vecsei H. had dipped in the water only as Nemecsek in Paul Street Boys, but the mastermind of Highlights of Hungary prize-winner POKET books, and also a new project partner together with Katinka Hosszú jumped into the pool of Duna Arena. Besides promoting reading as an activity, POKET team launched a community building project last year with the message that you could find your friends and common goals in every kind of environment. Such as in sport! That has brought together POKET and the three-time Olympic champion Katinka Hosszú, who has become the ambassador of the new POKET books.
‘In the first half year of A POKET, more than 60 thousands young people were walking with POKET books in their hands and pockets. It is not only a surprise and great pleasure for us, but responsibility as well’ said Miklós H. Vecsei, actor of Vígszínház. ‘It means responsibility to maintain the relationships with them, if they have put their trust into us, we need to keep warning them how important offline communication could be.’
‘It makes the same pleasure and responsibility to be a successful athlete and sport club owner’ added Katinka, owner of Iron Swim. ‘I am so glad not only talk about hard work and setting goals for the youngsters, but about love of reading and culture. Probably only a few people know how I love reading and I never travel without a book. Although swimming is a single sport, I must perform alone in the water, it has a reason that most swimmers practice in a team, because team and community both have enormous power. You can enjoy any experience, hard work, success better, if you can share them with your friends. Reading is the same, it arises thoughts that you want to talk to somebody, so it can build community. And I think that nowadays a good team around you is priceless.’
‘The Wonderful Sea by Kira Poutanen promoted by the Finnish Embassy and FINNAGORA is a non-traditional young adult fiction of 21st century that won the Best Book of the Year in its country’ said Miklós about the book. ‘This is not a smooth girl novel, but a sharply honest book that describes a 15-year old girl’s difficulties in life and school and in looking for her goals better than ever. We are aware that there are many young girls who, alike the protagonist called Julia, do not find their place or falter in the world… therefore we wanted to have an ambassador, whose story and humanity could help them to get over these situations and difficulties.’
The book can be taken from the continuously growing network of POKET (6 machines in Budapest and 2 in the country). The POKET community and Katinka Hosszú hope that more and more young people will take a book in their hands – even around the swimming pool.