Shhhhhh! It's "The Quiet Book"

Our lives are too often defined by what we say and how we act: how often do we stop and think of the quiet that permeates our lives? Deborah Underwood’s The Quiet Book forces the reader to stop and think of the quiet times. Jennifer Price, writing for Asheville Citizen-Times states that the “world is a loud, busy place, and it is growing louder and busier every day…and yet there is quiet to be had.” Underwood takes a departure from her typical nonfiction stories to bring to light this fantastic children’s story.

The story has no narrative besides beginning in the morning and ending at night, but instead the pages are stand-alone reminders of the best quiet moments in everyone’s life. My favorites include “First one awake quiet” that features a stuffed rabbit stretching, and “First snowfall quiet.” Who doesn’t relish in a quiet house when they are the first to awake in a normally bustling household? Especially here in Virginia where snow is such a rarity, who can do anything but stop and stay quiet when the first snowflakes begin falling from the sky? This book could be read aloud to class before some quiet activities, or perhaps to a preschool group before a naptime. Essentially, however, this book rivals Goodnight, Moon for the perfect bedtime story. Everything about the novel speaks of peacefulness, from the lack of any direct speech to the muted colors that paint the pages.

The illustrations done by Renata Liwska are able to take the text to a whole new level; all characters in the book are stuffed animals that, by nature, spend their entire lives quiet. From the cover that reads nothing other than The Quiet Book as all stuffed animals press their fingers to their lips to remind the reader to enter quietly, to the end page that will surely receive a smile, Liwska could not have been a better choice. The book is mainly colored in muted blues, browns, and greens that whisper “shhhh” to the reader; not bright colors or shocking illustrations are to be found in this book.. The illustrations are simple yet meaningful, evoking a smile and emotions as the reader empathizes with these silent animals. Pictures of Liwka’s sketches, both those that are seen in the book and those that were sadly left out, can be found on Amazon’s The Quiet Book page. After reading the book, perhaps readers will stop and think about their own favorite quiet times. Right now, I’m going to go enjoy my “moment at the end of a good book quiet.”