When a child is asked to “Please, be quiet!” they sit silent … and their imagination sweeps them away on a breathtaking journey.
Through the window, the child can hear the trees breathe and watches them sway back and forth as they begin to dance. Then bears join in, accompanied by the child on their drum, making so much noise they wake up a dragon! The dragon’s smoky breath fills the sky, and the wind forms a knight on a steed that gallops through the stars. The child’s adventure continues, as one wonderful flight of fancy leads to the next, from pirates to mermaids to whales, until they find themselves sitting silent once again among the trees.
Jean E. Pendziwol has written a charming story-poem that looks at silence and stillness as an opportunity for the imagination and creativity to flourish. Carmen Mok’s magical illustrations flow from one spread to the next like animation, in a palette inspired by vintage printmaking.
Key Text Features
dialogue
illustrations
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
When a child is asked to “Please, be quiet!” they sit silent … and their imagination sweeps them away on a breathtaking journey.
Through the window, the child can hear the trees breathe and watches them sway back and forth as they begin to dance. Then bears join in, accompanied by the child on their drum, making so much noise they wake up a dragon! The dragon’s smoky breath fills the sky, and the wind forms a knight on a steed that gallops through the stars. The child’s adventure continues, as one wonderful flight of fancy leads to the next, from pirates to mermaids to whales, until they find themselves sitting silent once again among the trees.
Jean E. Pendziwol has written a charming story-poem that looks at silence and stillness as an opportunity for the imagination and creativity to flourish. Carmen Mok’s magical illustrations flow from one spread to the next like animation, in a palette inspired by vintage printmaking.
Key Text Features
dialogue
illustrations
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3
Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7
Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
| Published By | Groundwood Books Ltd — Apr 1, 2022 |
| Specifications | 32 pages | 8.5 in x 11 in |
| Keywords | finding joy; Canadian; make-believe; magical realism; i found hope in a cherry tree; peter pan; fern and horn; mindfulness; paper bag princess; sometimes i feel like a fox; attentiveness; ocean meets sky; archie and the bear; my monster and me; jillian jiggs; junie b jones; amber brown; |
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Supporting Resources
(select item to download) |
Teacher's Guide |
| Written By |
JEAN E. PENDZIWOL’S highly acclaimed picture books include When I Listen to Silence, illustrated by Carmen Mok; I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree, illustrated by Nathalie Dion; Me and You and the Red Canoe, illustrated by Phil; and Once Upon a Northern Night, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award). She lives in Northwestern Ontario on the shores of Lake Superior. |
| Illustrated by |
CARMEN MOK is a studio-art graduate of the University of Waterloo and a craft and design graduate of Sheridan College. She has illustrated Percy's Museum by Sara O'Leary, Violet Shrink by Christine Baldacchino and Grandmother’s Visit by Betty Quan, an Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Picture Book Honor title. Carmen’s other noteworthy books include A Stopwatch from Grampa by Loretta Garbutt, Cone Cat by Sarah Howden and Tough Like Mum by Lana Button. She lives in St. Catharines, Ontario. |
| Written By |
|
JEAN E. PENDZIWOL’S highly acclaimed picture books include When I Listen to Silence, illustrated by Carmen Mok; I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree, illustrated by Nathalie Dion; Me and You and the Red Canoe, illustrated by Phil; and Once Upon a Northern Night, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award). She lives in Northwestern Ontario on the shores of Lake Superior. |
| Illustrated by |
|
CARMEN MOK is a studio-art graduate of the University of Waterloo and a craft and design graduate of Sheridan College. She has illustrated Percy's Museum by Sara O'Leary, Violet Shrink by Christine Baldacchino and Grandmother’s Visit by Betty Quan, an Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Picture Book Honor title. Carmen’s other noteworthy books include A Stopwatch from Grampa by Loretta Garbutt, Cone Cat by Sarah Howden and Tough Like Mum by Lana Button. She lives in St. Catharines, Ontario. |
| Audience | ages 3 to 6 / grades P to 1 |
| Key Text Features | dialogue; illustrations |
| Common Core |
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 |
Short-listed, Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award, 2022
Fairy-tale flashes of color dart across this bubbly story that celebrates being alone with one's own thoughts and dreams.
” —Foreword ReviewsA beautiful ode to imagination and the magic of silence.
” —BooklistPendziwol's lilting, lyrical text … shows that sometimes a moment of quiet freedom can be a wonderful gift to a child's imagination.
” —Quill & QuireYoung readers can enjoy this small adventure either or on their own or in a group setting.
” —CM: Canadian Review of MaterialsJean E. Pendziwol's beguiling circular story-poem celebrates the powerful delights of the imagination.
” —Canadian Children's Book NewsThe illustrations by Carmen Mak are soft and dark yet colourful all at once, giving an imaginative, dreamy vibe that is the perfect match for the story. This story … helps to show how silence can be a positive thing.
” —Miramichi ReaderWhen I Listen to Silence is a book that lets both parents and kids feel seen.
” —Quill & QuireThe illustrations by Carmen Mak are soft and dark yet colourful all at once, giving an imaginative, dreamy vibe that is the perfect match for the story. This story … helps to show how silence can be a positive thing, as it allows them the opportunity to dream up anything.
” —Miramichi Reader