Quiet
For ages 3+
Listen up! Little bird has something very important to say!
By Tom Percival, illustrated by Richard Jones (Simon & Schuster, 2024)
What a gorgeous first time collaboration from two of my favourite Children’s book creators: Tom Percival (Big Bright Feelings series, The Invisible and more) and Richard Jones (Perdu, Little Bear and more) who actually has a PhD in illustration! And by the way, Richard Jones’s illustrations are probably one of my most often shared on my Instagram stories!
I saw Tom Percival at an event recently and he recounted his childhood growing up in the countryside and what a positive impact it had on his mental health and how grateful if is for those memories now he is grown up and a parent himself. Richard Jones’s signature-style illustrations are delicate and powerful all at once. I adore staring at the attention to detail within the artwork throughout the book for he has created many birds, insects and animals including foxes, rabbits, deer, ducks, mice, pheasants and more. The book does have more text and is a longer picture book (slightly) than usual for this age group, but it flows superbly and the dialogue is compelling adding to the power of this conservation and belonging story.
‘Quiet’ is an intensely beautiful story taking an underdog character, a small little bird too afraid to speak their mind within their woodland community of puffed up pigeons, magnificent magpies, and fearless foxes. Flying high above the countryside one day she sees something truly terrifying - a “huge metal monster” tearing up the trees! Should she, could she find the courage and overcome her anxiety to use her voice to warn her community? At first she’s put down and dismissed by the bullies, but once they know she’s not a “silly little thing” at all and was right all along, they cower and appear weak and afraid! The little bird has an idea… they all rally round her. Whether she was already familiar or not with Ghana’s ‘Satyagraha’ movement in then early 1900s of peaceful protest or nonviolent resistance, she has power in numbers through gaining everyone’s trust to win the day in true bigger than you’ve ever seen rainbow joy. Little bird 1, Huge metal monster 0.
Taking a high level view of the story and considering for one moment that perhaps the little bird represents children and the unkind others are adults, let me be pretty clear here - there is a brilliant message - not just about preserving the countryside (also a brilliant message), but our ‘little’ one’s, children’s voices, voices have as much of a right to be heard as an adult’s. Children must be listened to, be given the space and time to find their voices, their courage to share their observations. Observations from and activism by children are often catalysts for change in our society, informing stubborn human brains (e.g. politicians, or even parents with yesteryear prejudices).
Reviewed from self-purchased hardback copy
“Thank you so much for... such an insightful, beautifully written review.”
