A book for the work from home era, When I Listen to Silence by Jean E. Pendziwol and Carmen Mok is a reminder of all the adventures one can have while listening to the silence.

A child is asked by their parent, who is clearly trying to work from home, to “Please be quiet!”. The child realizes all of the wonderful sounds they can hear when they are quiet. Those sounds remind them of fantastical adventures until they flip the script on Mom, asking her to “Please, be quiet”.

Jean E. Pendziwol creates a circular tale filled with lyrical, poetic text and fairy tale magic. If your young reader enjoys stories like If you Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff then they will enjoy this dreamy story. Since so many adults have switched to working from home, many children will connect with this story and the need to keep quiet so their parent(s) can work. Hopefully they will gain some inspiration for what to do while they sit in the silence and get their creative minds working.

Carmen Mok creates incredibly dream landscapes filled with fairytale wonder. I LOVE the colour palette chosen, the dark blue/green punctuated with neon pink and yellow taking the reader on an epic adventure.