Quiet

You can never go wrong with a Tom Percival title, and this one has been on my pile of picture books to read for some time because I wanted to take the time to really appreciate it, and I’ve made sure to keep it safe as it looks stunning from the front cover design and I just know it will be a book to cherish for life.

Every voice should be heard…

Just looking at the beautiful cover design makes me wish Richard Jones would do a wallpaper that I could make a feature wall of in my living room. It is stunning and totally portrays nature at its absolute finest, and I just want to befriend that adorable little bird in the centre!

The book tells the story of a little bird, beautiful in colour with a turquoise patch on her wing, and how she discovers humans are destroying the forest she and many others call home. It was through her noticing a different sound in the air to usual and going to determine the cause that she witnesses the felling of trees via huge machinery, and she makes the brave decision to go and inform those others that dwell in the forest about it instead of ignoring the problem and seeking out the silence she finds herself wanting over the rabble of all the other birds in the forest. Her little voice is drowned out usually, so she has to find a way to be heard.

With new found determination as a result of the danger facing them, the little bird finds each word she speaks, holds more conviction than the last, and she ensures every bird, animal and insect that calls the forest their home is not only aware of what is happening but also what her plan is to get the destruction to cease, and it works. She is a fantastic example of how bravery and perseverance ensure you are not just acknowledged but also respected and how one under appreciated voice can not be ignored when combined with others, which is precisely what happened as part of the plan, which sees all the inhabitants of the forest gather in front of the machinery, and get the right result for nature.

The importance of preservation of the natural world is part of the message in this book alongside one tiny bird in a big forest, putting the welfare of others before her own interests, making sure the right outcome is achieved for her entire community, and her doing that despite being so under valued and blatantly ignored prior to this momentous change in her priorities is such a big deal too.

I grew up loving reading Aesop’s Fables and this book, Quiet by Tom Percival and stunningly illustrated by Richard Jones, reminded me of those beautiful stories I loved when I was a child because it is a beautifully written story with a heartwarming and heartfelt story with meaning at its core. If you are looking for a book with the most stunning illustrative content, which compliments the text so perfectly, then you will love Quiet, which has the most beautiful landscapes featuring a vast array of woodland and forest animals to adore.

If ever there is a book that deserves to be truly cherished it would be this one, through its beautifully illustrated content to its deep and meaningful message behind the unfolding adventure held within a gorgeous cover, and I will be loving this book with all the little ones in my family for many years to come.