The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood and Renata Liwska

TITLE: The Quiet Book
AUTHOR: Deborah Underwood
ILLUSTRATOR: Renata Liwska
PUBLISHED BY: Houghton Mifflin
ISBN: 978-0547215679
PURCHASE: Amazon

Of all the titles that people have been buzzing about this year, The Quiet Book seemed least intriguing to me.  I don't know if it was the cover, or if I had read something about it and just rolled my eyes, but I consistently, stubbornly failed to pick it up at the store. Until two weeks ago, when I found myself with a big pile of books to read through quickly before finishing my Christmas shopping. It was the only book I read straight through.  It is WONDERFUL.

The premise is simple but engaging: every page tells of (and shows in charming little illustrations) a different kinds of quiet: "Coloring in the lines quiet." "Hide and Seek quiet." "Pretending your invisible quiet." "Right before you yell SURPRISE quiet."

Eventually there is a little chronology in the narrative: An aunt comes and brings a pet iguana (wondering if iguana's bite quiet), and the iguana is featured in subsequent drawings.  Then they all go to a concert together: "Before the concert starts quiet. Trying not to hiccup quiet."

This is a lovely bedtime or nap-time book--richly imaginative, charming, and very sweet.