Why Are You So Quiet? is a beautifully gentle story full of gorgeous textured artwork. Myra Louise constantly gets asked that question which makes her feel self conscious and misunderstood. Determined to communicate why she is the way she is, Myra Louise uses her creativity to build a listening machine (because it isn't just that she is quiet, but that she is quiet so that she can be in the moment, notice things and listen). Using the listening machine with others creates lovely shared moments.

I loved this story. Not only because I was a child who was often asked this question... well, I am an adult still asked this question sometimes too... but because the author and illustrator do such a great job of pulling you into these scenes. Even reading in my head, I am whispering quietly.

My son and I recently read an advance copy of this book. The story of Myra Louise reminded me very much of my own childhood, as I was known as “the quiet one” (and still am to a large degree). Although I was never teased or bullied because of my bookish introversion, I know people were thinking “Does she even know how to talk?” My physical presence was “forgotten” many times because I was too busy observing and listening to the people around me instead of talking and interacting with them. In other words, this is probably one of the most relatable children’s books I’ve ever read.

Myra Louise and I know the pain of having to explain to others why we prefer books to people, and silence to talking. Introverts like us can provide a very simple answer to the annoying question “Why are you so quiet?” It’s nothing earth-shattering, yet the extroverts among us are often confounded by the simple truth: the world is much too loud — and life seems to make more sense when we are listening, not talking. Not to mention how much more we can learn about the world around us when we get quiet for a while.

Overall, we enjoyed the book, the message, and the beautiful illustrations; however, we couldn’t rate the book higher than 3 stars for at least two reasons. One, we felt the limitations of the ebook format hampered our experience of the book. The artwork is one of the better elements of this title, and it just wasn’t as easy to view and inspect it in ebook format. If we had a physical copy, we are sure we would rate the book one star higher. (Of course, this is no fault of the title itself, it’s just the only option we had at the moment and it does impact our review).

Two, we felt there could have been more time devoted to Myra Louise’s listening machine adventures. The concept of a young child being an inventor is pretty unique and the story just fell a little flat in places. This is not a major complaint, but sometimes children’s books seem a little too short, and I think this one could have been expanded by at least a few pages. Again, a good experience, and we are grateful for the chance to read the book months before publication. We hope to read it someday in print because ebook format wasn’t satisfactory for this title.

It’s a great book for children who might be self-conscious about their quiet personalities, or for children who are trying to understand their more introverted peers. It also serves as a talking point to encourage being comfortable in our own skin — no matter what the world expects of us.

This is a story of a quiet girl. Though she find herself different from the other children, she does have gifts. She is able to think, build, read, and listen. These abilities enable her to build a listening machine. She is able to capture sounds that other miss. Sounds that are equally important in our world. But sounds that are often missed because of the noise.

I would have loved to have a book such as this when I was a child.

This is a very cute, almost gentle story, about an introverted little girl. My son with sensory processing disorder really related to hearing small sounds more than others.

This picture book is so sweet and so needed for a lot of children I believe. It will resonate with introverted children, and also give insight to those that are extroverted. The drawings were lovely and the message was well-conveyed for children.

I really enjoyed this book. It will really resonate with kids who are shy or misunderstood. I was quiet as a child and I think my younger self would have really appreciated the main character. It's always nice to see yourself represented in books.

5/5 stars for this sweet, classic, and beautifully illustrated story!

Myra Louise is an introverted little girl who loves the sound of silence. She is always asked by others why she is so quiet all time. In her busy loud world Myra Louise stops and appreciates the stillness around her. She embraces the raindrops, the crickets and even the dryers at the laundromat.

She gets fed up with people always asking her about her quietness so she ponders, reads books, observes, collects many things because Myra Louise has a special plan. Juggling all these finds she heads out to her garage, the quietest place in the whole house, so she can begin her plan can become reality.

The hours fly by and Myra Louise builds a listening machine that just may answer why she is quiet so everyone will finally understand. She journeys with her machine turned on so she might discover why some things are quiet too. Will her exploration of being still and silent convince others to give it a try?

The illustrations are charming and beautifully done. The book is a tender challenge for children ( and adults too ) to be silent observant listeners of their surroundings. Take heed... the world has lots to teach us in its silence but one has to be quiet to absorb it! I highly recommend this book. Well done!

Darling illustrations. This book is perfect to read with quiet kids, or to read with extrovert kids who have difficulty understanding their quiet friends/ siblings.

I really related to this book. As a child, people always commented on me being quiet all the time. By the time I was a teenager, the running joke was that I needed to beep so my friends knew I was still with them. It definitely wasn't a great feeling to have everyone think something was wrong with me because I wasn't as outgoing and loud as them. Luckily as an adult I've realized that I am a lot happier being quiet and introverted rather than trying to fit in with others. I loved that the heroine in this story found a way to express to others how she felt.

Reading the description for this book I was immediately interested as I related to the topic of being quiet as a child and even into adulthood I remember this exact question, Why Are You So Quiet? It was usually in a tone that doesn't make you feel good about a part of who you are.

This book made sure to address that feeling by mentioning how the protagonist felt smaller overtime. The story continues with highlights of the strengths to being an introvert- a good listener, thinker, observer, and even reader. I saw this as beautiful and clearly written from an author who lived this experience. I love this book for children who may not understand how their introverted nature is an asset.

I like the moments where she's enjoying her time doing things she loves. She finds her voice in the end by speaking up and saying, I'm listening. I also enjoyed the illustrations.

Everyone that Myra Louise knows keeps asking her why she is so quiet, from her teacher, to her classmates, and even her mom, everyone wants to know. Everyone. Myra Louise has no answer, but she begins to search for the answer to the never-ending question by going to the Laundromat and listening to the quietest dryer, and asking the dryer why it is so quiet, but it is hard to hear an answer, the only sounds she hears are the sounds of clothes tumbling around inside.

So she reads books about inventing and tinkering and building, and before long she’s made a listening machine.

When the raindrops begin, she takes her listening machine outside and turns it on, and whispers her question, asking the rain why it is so quiet? And while she isn’t answered in words, the sound of the rain is so captivating she stays and listens. And when the rain stops, she turns on her listening machine once more, and then listens to the music of the crickets’ evening song.

Sharing what she’s ‘captured’ on her machine is her way to show others why she’s so quiet, and what can be discovered by listening, and Myra Louise finds how much joy there is in sharing her experience, and finding a friend who appreciates the value of listening.

With charming, lovely illustrations this story encourages such a wonderful value in young children. Listening, thinking, and watching the world around us adds value to all the things we say, and do. And, really, wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone would listen ?



Pub Date: 08 Sep 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Annick Press Ltd., Annick Press

Having been a quiet child myself this book resonated with me. The constant question, why are you so quiet? I loved how the girl finds a way to show the value of listening rather than constant speech.

A picture book for introverted children. The ones who prefer to listen rather than speak. This story takes you on the journey with Myra Lousise as she tries to find the answer to the question she is always asked, “What Are You So Quiet?”. I thought the story and the illustrations were sweet and lovely.

Why Are You so Quiet, tells the story of a child who is faced with frustration and the taunting of others because she is quiet.
In the classroom or at home, this book can be used as a promot for discussions of how we treat others, respecting and accepting differences, being kind and not making others feel small.
The language throughout the book is rich (i.e. hollered, sidled, mesmerized, scrunched...).

Thank you to Netgally and Annick Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book for an honest review.

A beautiful children's book about a girl who prefers the quiet, solitude, and observing her world. This book would be perfect for children who prefer the quiet or are shy and feel different.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

"Why Are You So Quiet" is the book my family needed! Hailing from the pen of Jaclyn Desforges, this book tells the story of a young girl who prefers to be quiet. The people around her don't understand why she doesn't speak up more often. The girl decides to create something that will highlight the beauty of life found when someone is quiet.

Our family loved this book. As a parent of quiet kids, I cheered when I started reading this to my little ones. The story rings true and there are so many great examples of things that people can hear when they just sit and listen. I was pleasantly pleased with this book. It was creative, touching and meaningful! It was fun to watch my little ones connect with the main character and her situation!

This is such a lovely book with a great message. I feel like the first one I took from it is how kids react to other kids being loud when they want quiet. While that may seem uncommon it makes it amazing to have it spoke on her, then to have second message of slowing down to listen was really great. This sparked a lot of great discussions between the kids about what we can hear and why we should. Thank you so much for the great opportunity and for a book that I can read and love with my little ones.

Thank you Netgally and the author for the gifted copy, all thoughts are completely my own.

I thought this book was pretty cute and the illustrations are beautiful. I realize this is a children's book but I was under the impression it was building up to something but nothing happened. The way it ended as well seemed "unfinished".

3 stars

First I want to thank Netgalley, the author and the publisher for sending me an e arc of this childrens book for my honest opinion.

I really liked this childrens book, I was a quiet child growing up and I'm honestly now im a quiet adult a little bit, so I can really appreciate and relate to this book myself. I also have little ones that are a little bit quiet as well. I loved the illustrations also. Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to read this cute book.

A absolutely darling and heartwarming story about the beauty of being quiet and listening, I found the artwork to be gorgeous and so so beautiful. The story about a young girl who is quiet and just trying to find someone who will listen was sweet. I highly recommend this book for all the quiet souls out there.