Is that the wind blowing? Birds chirping? Sun shining? World whirling?
Maybe a car engine or faraway plane? Maybe kids laughing or playing tag?
Be still. Listen. Focus on the now. What do you hear? By paying attention to what is otherwise lost in our noisy world, you can develop your imagination and curiosity and learn a lot more about yourself.
Beautifully illustrated and gently written, Silence encourages children to stop, listen, and reflect on their experiences and the world around them. Using qualities of mindfulness and peaceful meditation, readers are asked to pay attention to what otherwise gets lost in our noisy environment. By centering oneself in the present and listening to those sounds, children can learn to become more self-aware and comfortable with their own thoughts and feelings, and use all this as a means to develop imagination and curiosity. Silence may even help children learn a little more about themselves.
Carme Lemniscates is the author, illustrator and designer of several critically acclaimed children's books including Trees (2017), Birds (2019), Seeds (2020), and El jardín mágico, for which she won the 2017 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award. She has also illustrated Jennifer Adams's I Am a Warrior Goddess (2018), Kate Coombs's BabyLit Little Poets board book series, and Hillary and Chelsea Clinton's Grandma's Gardens (2020).
A picture book that encourages creative thinking and observation skills when remaining silent (or taking a natural pause) to notice what or who is around us.
Silence, by the illustration studio of artists and designers known as Lemniscates, invites children to pause, listen, and reflect on the sounds of the natural world around them. There is a true stillness to the collage-like illustrations, and a simplicity to the gentle narrative. I would definitely use this book with primary and elementary students to encourage sensory awareness (during a science unit on the five senses, perhaps) and to develop creative writing skills.
This is another picture book gem my daughter grabbed at the library, this week. It’s a little older than the books I normally share in my weekly #imwayr posts, but it’s still pretty and might prove helpful. So... in a nutshell, the text is a free-verse poem on mindfulness — it allows the reader to slow down and listen to the world around them. Young children might be asked to look at each new spread and anticipate what the new sounds will be on each page. At the same time, this would make a very nice bedtime book to unwind at the end of a busy day!
I had never heard of Lemniscates before seeing this book. In the back of the book there’s a notation that says, “Lemniscates is an illustration studio of artists and designers located in Barcelona. Their creative and imaginative books spark curiosity in children of all ages, and encourage children to develop their unique talents and skills for a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.”
For more kidlit, MGlit, and YAlit book reviews, please visit my book review blog: The Miller Memo.
Is that the wind blowing? Birds chirping? Sun shining? World whirling?
Maybe a car engine or faraway plane? Maybe kids laughing or playing tag?
Be still. Listen. Focus on the now. What do you hear? By paying attention to what is otherwise lost in our noisy world, you can develop your imagination and curiosity and learn a lot more about yourself.
Beautifully illustrated and gently written, Silence encourages children to stop, listen, and reflect on their experiences and the world around them. Using qualities of mindfulness and peaceful meditation, readers are asked to pay attention to what otherwise gets lost in our noisy environment. By centering oneself in the present and listening to those sounds, children can learn to become more self-aware and comfortable with their own thoughts and feelings, and use all this as a means to develop imagination and curiosity. Silence may even help children learn a little more about themselves.
My son and I both love Silence by Lemniscates. It's a great book for an active child to read before bed. Both the words and the imagery invoke a quiet mood.
This is a sweet gem. The artwork beautifully accompanies the text, which follows a young girl as she listens to the things around her. The word choice is excellent, with selections that invite one to pause and imagine sound, and which help to reinvent the way one sees the world. For example, bees "love" flowers as they hover close and there is "twinkling" snow. This allows readers to pause and imagine the sounds for themselves instead of providing it for them with onomatopoeic words like "buzz" or "splat." As such, this would work well for sharing in large or small storytimes centered around listening skills, senses, and the four seasons (as they are mentioned). Note: published by the American Psychological Association & the author name refers to a collaborative group of artists based out of Barcelona. Highly recommended.
SUMMARY Silence is a story that encourages readers to really listen to the elements of nature. It explores some of the wonderful aspects of nature. In addition to detailing the wonder of nature, it encourages readers to reflect on the experiences they have had with nature.
ACTIVITY - 3rd grade Find a time to take students outside. When they are outside encourage them to sit alone and not by a neighbor. Have them take out writing supplies. When they are outside, they will journal and reflecting on the elements of nature that get drowned out in everyday life.
I’d never heard of Leminscates until I read this book. At the end of the book, it’s shared that a goal is to “encourage children to develop their unique talents and skills for a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.” The story is told by a little girl who shares what she notices when she is silent, ‘waves crashing’ or ‘snow twinkling’ and on. The collages that make up the illustrations are gorgeous. Since we do so much nature journaling at my school, it will be a beautiful book to encourage silence, to see what children notice.
This is a great picture book for all ages, reminding us what we can all hear if we just shut up for a while and listen to the sounds of nature. I like how it goes through the different seasons and at the end asks “How many things can you hear?”
This intriguing little book was written and illustrated by a studio and not a single author or illustrator. I'm not sure how common that is, but the gently-told tale produced by that collaboration is lovely.
Nice book for young children. Good illustrations that kids will look at and keep their attention. Story will also engage children in talks about what they hear when they are quiet.