A Quiet Place

by Douglas Wood, Douglas Wood

"Sometimes a person needs a quiet place."
A place that's far away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life --
a place that isn't ringing or talking or roaring or playing.
But sometimes that place isn't easy to find.
Explore what it's like to find a special someplace where we
all can think our own thoughts and feel our own feelings.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Poetry, Fantasy, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Kids

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

Composer, recording artist, wilderness guide, and self-taught naturalist-Douglas Wood is perhaps most widely known as the highly acclaimed author of OLD TURTLE, a 1993 ABBY Award winner and an International Reading Association Book of the Year. Author of several books for readers of all ages, Douglas says he is always seeking themes that are universally significant to both children and adults. His first book for Candlewick Press, GRANDAD'S PRAYERS OF THE EARTH-winner of the Christopher Medal for "affirming the highest value of the human spirit"-quietly explores the theme of grief and healing while celebrating a human connection to the natural world and the enduring spirit of love. Douglas Wood kept in mind someone very special to his own life when writing GRANDAD'S PRAYERS OF THE EARTH. "I feel I've been getting ready to write this book all my life, for it is about my wise and gentle hero, my Grandad. It's a prayer and a thank you, a walk in the woods, and a remembering smile; and it is for anyone who has ever had a woods to walk, a prayer to whisper, a hero to love."


Douglas Wood lives with his family in a log cabin on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minnesota.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book talking about finding a quiet place and when you do one can imagine many things. or perhaps you can visit a library "where the only people talking str between the covers of books. They speak so softly you can only hear them in your head. . ." love these lines! A book discussing imagination, going to a library, as well as finding the peaceful place within. Adults will enjoy this along with school age children in the early grades. Definately not a preschool picture book.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated read about the many places a person could escape to if they were in need of a little quiet.

[Kayla Worley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes a person needs a quiet place."
A place that's far away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life --
a place that isn't ringing or talking or roaring or playing.
But sometimes that place isn't easy to find.
Explore what it's like to find a special someplace where we
all can think our own thoughts and feel our own feelings. The intended audience is 3-8 and preschool-3rd grade. I selected this book because I think this would be good for teaching students to find a place to go in the class or house if they're upset.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

When one requires a quiet place, you have to know where to look. But sometimes “the very best quiet place of all — the one that’s always there, not matter where you go or where you stay — the one inside you.”

Not everyone thrives on the hustle and bustle of life and it is sometimes important for kids to be by themselves to recharge themselves. This is a good book to help kids to understand the necessity of this, especially those students who are introverts.

[Evan Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

To start off this review, I want to say that the illustrations were beautiful and I loved the artistic choices for each and every image that was shown in this book. To continue on, I like that it taught us that we are our own best quiet place with some imagination involved however in my opinion I feel as though it doesn't consider other things such as autistic children who do need quiet places which this book was really geared towards.

[Winterwhisper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love using this book when discussing building mental images with 1st or 2nd graders. The descriptions are vivid and the children enjoy "guessing" what is being described and describing their own images discovering everyone's is a little different!

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice story about finding your special quiet place. There are lots of physical places people enjoy as quiet spots, but there is one you can always have with you. The ending shows how reading, learning, and your own mind can become a special spot to be yourself.

[Maggie Panning · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this as an extension to our nature studies before the kids went out to find their special nature spot. This book would also be a good extension to a mindfulness or meditation practice or a discussion on ways to cope with anxiety and/or overwhelm.

[Kay Mcaloney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for my advanced second grade reading group. Should make for an interesting discussion about how they feel about a quiet place. Highly recommend.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the message of this one. Illustrations made it feel much older than it was but also added to the fanciful feel of some of the settings, so mixed on those.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet story about a boy using his imagination to find his quiet place.

[Cecile · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 but I am feeling generous and my child enjoyed this book more than I did.

[PrincyRakeshkumar]

I want to read this book

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some thoughts on finding a quiet place - the perfect place will be different for everyone.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated book. The story is simple and imaginative. I have come to treasure all of Douglas Wood’s books. They are lovely.

[Emery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Library book

[Annie Lima · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little children's book. This would be a good one to read to introverted kids, to help them think of places (real or imaginary) where they could go to get away from it all.

[Jessica Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that sparks imagination, this book is worth at least a couple reads as a child. It reminds us that we can find great adventures in the pages of a book.

[Vanessa Becerra]

This book is about a kid who just wants a quiet place. He has lots of ideas but doesn't know what place to pick.

[Rachel Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Contemporary Realistic
Grade Level: 3

I really really really loved this story. I resonate with the need to find quiet once in awhile, and I would love to teach my students this concept through this book. The illustrations were wonderful, and the story was engaging. I loved the ending message, that quietness can be found inside of yourself. Overall I would highly recommend this sweet story as a read aloud in a classroom and at home.

[Casandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book about finding time to explore your imagination. A bit long for story time, but great to cuddle up and read!

[CanadianReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautiful and reflective picture book with its stunning illustrations by Dan Andreasen was first published close to a quarter of a century ago. In many ways, it feels like an even older book. For one thing, the illustrations show scenes of the past: 1940s cars, sailing ships, buried treasure, a pony express rider, cavemen, a Mayan temple, explorers, and the pristine natural world.

The author Douglas Wood’s message concerns the need for kids (and adults, too) to get away from noise and overstimulation. Unsurprisingly, given the book’s publication in 2002, no screens, gadgets, cell phones, and digital media are mentioned or shown.

One could argue that a work like this may be more important now than ever before, as it gently provides counsel on how to find a quiet place to calm oneself, replenish energy, and exercise one’s imagination. Crawling under bushes while pretending to be a pirate recovering buried treasure; looking in the woods, as one imagines being inside a green mansion or becoming a timber wolf; walking on a beach while envisioning oneself as an explorer—all these places and more (a desert, pond, cavern, hilltop, snow drift, museum, or library) are possible quiet places where the imagination can take flight. Or

You could come home
and clean your room
and read your own books
and think your own thoughts
and feel your own feelings
and discover the very best quiet place of all—
the one that’s always there, no matter
where you go or where you stay—
the one inside of you.

This is a gentle, poetic book, one I’ve never test driven with a group of students. I’m not sure how it would go over with kids. My sense, though, is that children (especially those in rural areas) could still relate to it. I have the feeling that kids would have a lot of “quiet places” to add and would be eager to share their own.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story begins "Sometimes a person needs a quiet place." The extraordinary illustrations complement the words and take the reader through the search for a quiet place ... under a bush, in a cavern, in a secret corner of the library, by the sea, in the woods, in the desert, and other places that could be ideal. But there is one that is accessible to everyone.

[Ann Marie Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade level: 3rd grade

I like this book because sometimes children do not realize that it is okay to be alone and collect your thought sometimes. I like how the book explores different places and spaces where children can find silence and relax. For example, the author talks about finding a quiet place by the sea, in the snow, in the forest, in the library, etc. I think this book does a good job of explaining to children that sometimes it is okay and even fun to be alone. The illustrations in this book are intricate and represent the location well. This could be a good way to show students that there are other places to visit and see and explore. Maybe some students have not been to the mountains or the ocean, but this book can take them there in an imaginary way.

I think this book could definitely be a read aloud at the end of a long day at school. It is a good winding down book that has a lot of interesting new vocabulary and figurative language. For example, "the waves are roaring, and the gulls are crying..." I really like the language in this book and I think it could be a peaceful, relaxing read for many students. The vocabulary is strong in this book because it talks about different places to go to find a quiet place. For example, you could go by the sea and discover a new continent. You could use this book to teach what exactly a continent is. Also, you could go to the desert and discuss what a thunderhead, a cactus, or the Old West. You could go to the pond and learn about herons by the shore. Although this book does not really have a plot, I still think it is a meaningful book with many imaginations that children can connect to.

[Megan Coloutti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A red-cheeked, blond city-dweller, who with hands clamped tightly over his ears, yearns for respite from `whistles shrieking and grown-ups talking and engines roar and ... grown-ups talk....' In prose saturated with simile and metaphor, Wood suggests numerous subdued spots for solitude from ponds and deserts to caverns and museums and then interjects the boy's fantasies into the mix. Using figurative language techniques like simile, personification, and sensory images, the writer will develop a short poem about a setting inspired by our interactive setting generator or a special place from their own lives.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes we do need quiet places...for our imaginations to thrive. That's what Douglas Wood delivers. This is another standard for the Unitarian Universalist bookshelf and for families who love stories about nurturing imagination.

Dan Andreason's illustrations are soft and invite those quiet imaginings. They also pay homage to the illustrations of N.C.Wyeth at points, particularly where the imaginings connect to Wyeth-illustrated classics, like Robert Louis Stevenson's _Treasure Island_. Visually, we're reminded of how pictures also cultivate our imaginations.

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me of the book Something Beautiful. In this book, instead of looking for something beautiful in his life, the little boy is looking for his own quiet place to escape from the world. He goes through all of these different places that he thinks would make good quiet places and he could let his imagination run wild, only to find that the best place is at home where he can read his own books, think his own thoughts, and feel his own feelings. He discovers that the best quiet place is the one inside of himself.

[Hannah Evilsizor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is appropriate for 3 to 7 year olds. In kindergarten they move away from "nap time" and move into quiet time including reading buy yourself. I think this is a great book to introduce having that quiet time to read and think by yourself. I think that this book also encourages imagination and the things your brain can come up with when you have some time to yourself. I would then have them brainstorm about where their quiet place might be and what they might do during their quiet time.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the idea underlying the book, of providing inspiration to children in learning to find quiet places in their lives where they can enjoy and appreciate silence. The book is good but I didn't find it particularly inspiring, hence the three star rating. Though I gave the book only three stars, I would still use it with young children up to about age six because I think the author addresses an important topic and does a decent job with it.

[Emily Blay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a good lesson. This book shows students that they need to learn when they have reached a boiling point. When they have this realization then they can go to a quiet place. All students need to know how to handle their anger/frustration. I would read this book to my students (kindergarten-fourth grade)