The Sound of Silence

by Katrina Goldsaito, Julia Kuo (Artist)

Overview

A Parents' Choice Gold Medal Winner
★ "An inviting tale that will stretch inquisitive and observant young minds." —Kirkus, starred review

A beautiful, lyrical book about a boy seeking silence in a bustling city, for fans of The Quiet Book and Wabi Sabi

"Do you have a favorite sound?" little Yoshio asks. The musician answers, "The most beautiful sound is the sound of ma, of silence."

But Yoshio lives in Tokyo, Japan: a giant, noisy, busy city. He hears shoes squishing through puddles, trains whooshing, cars beeping, and families laughing. Tokyo is like a symphony hall!

Where is silence?

Join Yoshio on his journey through the hustle and bustle of the city to find the most beautiful sound of all.

★ "This book will be especially welcome in settings that teach yoga or mindfulness, but its message and striking art will be appreciated anywhere the din of daily life can overwhelm." —School Library Journal, starred review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316203371
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	08/02/2016
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	258,862
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD700L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Katrina Goldsaito's favorite sound is the sound of bare feet on tatami mats. In Tokyo, she worked as an on-camera TV journalist and producer for NHK-World, and has written for National Geographic, The Christian Science Monitor, NPR, and The Japan Times . She lives near Golden Gate Park with her husband and son, and spends her days eating avocados and working on her first YA novel.

Julia Kuo's favorite sound is kuk-kuk-kuk (the sound an angry squirrel makes). She is the illustrator of Go, Little Green Truck and has created illustrations for American Greetings, the Cleveland Public Library, The New York Times, and Capitol Records, among many others. She works from Chicago for most of the year, and from Taipei over the winter.

Editorial Reviews

05/23/2016
On his way to school in noisy Tokyo, Yoshio asks a street musician what her favorite sound is. “The most beautiful sound is the sound of ma, of silence,” she replies. Yoshio spends the rest of the book trying to listen for silence in his city—a tall order—and finds it early the next morning when he’s lost in a book: “Suddenly, in the middle of a page, he heard it. No sounds of footsteps, no people chattering, no radios, no bamboo.... It was between and underneath every sound.” Kuo (Daisy and Josephine) draws with an architect’s precise line, alternating gallery-worthy spreads of Tokyo’s crowds and buildings with domestic scenes of Yoshio and his family. Debut author Goldsaito’s final passages about ma successfully illuminate the term and could be used to teach children to meditate, the way Goldsaito’s father taught her, as she explains in an afterword. Young readers, however, may be more impressed by the way Yoshio wanders freely and safely alone through the world’s most populous city. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"One of my absolute favorite books of the year, I'll tell anyone who will listen that The Sound of Silence is like a dharma talk led by Christopher Robin. Which is about as high a compliment as I can give."—The Huffington Post

"Only when Yoshio least expects it does the longed-for moment, breathless and fragile, arrive in this handsome picture book...."—The Wall Street Journal

"Deeply resonant...richly descriptive...The meditative pleasures of the book deepen with the thoughtful, dramatic compositions and bright colors of Kuo's illustrations. Read the notes, listen closely, and you might be able to hear the music and the silence too."—The Boston Globe

"Goldsaito's gentle prose and Julia Kuo's vivid woodblock-style illustrations...beckon the reader into Yoshio's world of sound...So intent is his listening that the moment when Yoshio finds that he can hear the silence feels like a treasure—or a perfect note."—The Washington Post

* "An inviting tale that will stretch inquisitive and observant young minds—and may even lead children to a greater appreciation of that golden commodity, silence."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "This book will be especially welcome in settings that teach yoga and mindfulness, but its message and striking art will be appreciated anywhere the din of daily life can overwhelm."—School Library Journal, starred review

* "The language in this picture book evokes the cacophony of sounds a person hears throughout daily life and the beautifully drawn images show where these sounds come from."—School Library Connection, starred review

"Although the text is a smooth, self-contained bit of storytelling, Kuo's digitally colored pen drawings perform glorious double duty, introducing the bustling street scenes and orderly private interiors of Yoshio's beloved Tokyo, and translating the concept of ma into literal and figurative imagery."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"Whether or not young audiences understand the lovely (but somewhat enigmatic) Zen lesson about silence, they will certainly grasp Yoshio's love for Tokyo's 'stream of sounds'."—Horn Book

"Yoshio's journey, rendered in pen and digital color, beautifully captures the bustle of Tokyo on a rainy day....Easily distinguished by his bright yellow umbrella and rain boots, [Yoshio] darts energetically from page to page."—Booklist

"Debut author Goldsaito's final passages about ma successfully illuminate the term and could be used to teach children to meditate...."—Publishers Weekly

"This pensive study of scenes and senses elicits new appreciation."—The San Francisco Chronicle

From the Publisher

★ 07/01/2016
K-Gr 4—On a rainy, bustling morning in Tokyo, a young boy is surrounded by a symphony of sounds: boots squishing, raindrops pattering, cars rushing, and, to his delight, a koto player producing a range of high, low, and "twangy and twinkling" notes as she tunes her instrument. When Yoshio asks the musician what her favorite sound is, she answers, "Ma," the silence between sounds. Intrigued by her comment, the boy spends his day in search of the elusive ma. Kuo's art provides the backdrop for the child's quest in scenes of contemporary Tokyo, from the high-speed Shinkansen trains that pass through its stations ("whoosh") to the bamboo grove near the school playground that whispers "takeh-takeh-taheh." Most of the images (in pen, with color added digitally) span spreads, offering wide-angle views of the city, but there are a few single-page pictures, proffering their own unique perspectives. The art is rich in detail and features a variety of concentrated colors that give way to muted grays and browns when suddenly, while reading, Yoshi experiences ma, something that feels peaceful, "still inside him." In an author's note, Goldsaito acknowledges the influence of the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, who believed that "without silence, sound would be meaningless." VERDICT This book will be especially welcome in settings that teach yoga or mindfulness, but its message and striking art will be appreciated anywhere the din of daily life can overwhelm.—Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal

School Library Journal

★ 2016-05-04
Like a Zen koan, this story draws readers' attention to silence, that vanishingly rare attribute of modern family life.Yoshio, wearing the classic bright cap and backpack of the Japanese pupil, sets jauntily off on his way to school through the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. Along the way he meets an elderly woman playing the koto, a traditional stringed instrument, who tells him that "the most beautiful sound" is in fact ma, or silence. Puzzling over this conundrum as he moves through his noise-filled day, Yoshio eventually becomes aware that silence is always there too, if only one learns how to notice it. Every detail of this book brings Japan vividly to life, from popular storefronts and cartoon characters to commuters wearing surgical masks and children removing their outside shoes at school. Japanese is rich in onomatopoeic sounds, and Goldsaito and Kuo convey this linguistic quirk to English readers both visually and verbally. The elegantly expressive text and illustrations together create an immersive sensory experience for readers.An inviting tale that will stretch inquisitive and observant young minds—and may even lead children to a greater appreciation of that golden commodity, silence. (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews