Are you having a Quiet or a Loud kind of day?

 I never thought that someone would write a book solely on the concepts of being loud or quiet. That said, The Quiet Book and The Loud Book by Deborah Underwood, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children deserve attention.

Image courtesy of Indiebound.org

I was smitten by The Quiet Book at first read. The book follows several animal characters and the different types of quiet they engage in, like the times you are quiet when you are supposed to be (telling a secret or suprising someone), and the times your are quiet beacuase there is simply nothing else to be (disappointment and shock). The types of quiet in the book are a teaching tool for parents to express when to be quiet, as well as a source of humor. My favorite kind of quiet, "Thinking of a good reason you were drawing on the wall quiet". Ultimately, the book is a bed-time story, with the characters falling asleep at the end, but it is definately an any time book.



Image provided by amazon.com

 The sequal to The Quiet Book, The Loud Book, is just as humorous and enjoyable. Of course, this book focuses on the loud moments of life, following the same animal characters. It is also told as a bedtime story, with the animals trying to sleep in the end, but it is too loud. The parental humor is also on par in this sequal, with jokes that only parents will understand. My favorite parental humor type of loud "deafening silence loud".

These books are fabulous and Ms. Underwood should be commended for creating such creative stories that not only appeal to children, but to thier parents. Pick up a copy of The Quiet Book or The Loud Book at Amazon.com or at your local library!