The Sound of Silence

by Katrina Goldsaito, Julia Kuo (Visual Art)

"Do you have a favorite sound?" little Yoshio asks. The musician answers, "The most beautiful sound is the sound of ma, of silence."

But Yoshio lives in Tokyo, Japan: a giant, noisy, busy city. He hears shoes squishing through puddles, trains whooshing, cars beeping, and families laughing. Tokyo is like a symphony hall!

Where is silence?

Join Yoshio on his journey through the hustle and bustle of the city to find the most beautiful sound of all.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Japan, Music, Fiction, Cultural, Asia

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 2, 2016

Reviews

[Relyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book more than most of the books I've read this school year. Believe me, that's saying a lot as this is my first year as an elementary librarian and I've read many, many books. This one was just amazing.

The story takes place in Tokyo, which is already thrilling as most children in middle America don't know much about Tokyo. The story is full of details that are at once strange and familiar. For example, most American children understand street music, even if they've never heard a koto player. In The Sound of Silence a koto player tells a little boy, Yoshio, that his favorite sound is silence. Yoshio spends the rest of the book looking for silence. His search for silence takes him into all sorts of interesting places as he collects sounds.

Katrina Goldsaito's meditation on Ma, silence, is powerful. The book has many lessons, one of them, to look for the moments of silence amid the sounds because that's where the music waits.

Speaking of music, her words are musical in and of themselves. This book just begs to be read aloud. Try it. Read this passage aloud:

Yoshio listened to the sound of his boots squishing and squashing through the puddles, and the tiny raindrops pattering on his umbrella. The sound of his giddy giggle made him giggle more."

See? Her very words are music. Oh, I am eager to plan lessons around this book for my fourth graders next year.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I smiled from the beginning to the end of this children’s book: at the details of the illustrations of the busy city of Tokyo--in particular the Uniqlo store, the Meiji billboard and the drawing of an octopus on a food stall outside a temple (my remembrances thus fulfilling the artist’s stated purpose in her note at the book’s end); also, at the passerby carrying a copy of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (wouldn’t he be reading it in Japanese? I invented a story in which he wouldn’t be). But the biggest (though quietest) smile was for the most important part of the story and it has remained in my mind beyond the story’s end.

I’m not always a big fan of afterwords, but don’t skip this one.

[Satyajeet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very special book.

“Silence had been there all along…”







“Speech is for the convenience of those who are hard of hearing; but there are many fine things which we cannot say if we have to shout.”
- Henry David Thoreau on Silence

[Yoo Kyung Sung · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Sound of Silence" is a great book that a boy name, Yoshio, explores sounds of silence after he met a koto playing. Silence comes in a moment with momentum realization. I appreciate Yoshito being in Tokyo and he, as a Japanese boy, never heard the traditional instrument, koko until he ran into the player. Contemporary landscapes in Tokyo and traditional housing styles are well balanced in the illustration not to mention hiragana and kanji are displayed in the illustration. Non stereotypical story about Japan but universal curiosity about silence, Ma in Japanese concept, enriches global perspectives in children's picture books.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The text and illustrations here worked together perfectly and I love the specificity of language in how sounds are described. I found silence in this book, I realized, after reading it—how fitting!

The details and quest truly captivate.

(Also, a lot of fun for anyone who has been to Tokyo to see its depiction and I liked the detail of the man carrying a Murakami book!)

[Angelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ma - the Japanese concept describing the silence between sounds.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young boy named Yoshio persists in his search for silence through the busy city of Tokyo. The drawings are detailed and active, the words of the story playful and sound-loving.

The unexpected place that he found silence?

I won’t tell.

It’s worth the journey.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great way to get a more true idea of modern Japan if all you think of is Samurai & Hello Kitty sort of stuff. City sounds can be a symphony, but not living mindfully enough to know 'ma' is not really living, either. Good for everyone, especially, perhaps, fans of the Zen books by Jon J. Muth. I love the drawing style, and the enlightening author's notes, too.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book to illustrate the concept of mindfulness for kids. I really loved the bright illustrations of Tokyo contrasted with the white/gray pictures when Yoshio was imagining "silence." Not sure how this would fit into a social studies lesson, but the book itself would be great for teaching description, imagery, etc.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely story for small children about finding silence within oneself, as well as an introduction to Japanese culture.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Yoshio goes in search of and discovers "ma," the silence between sounds. A beautifully written and illustrated story with an afterword explaining this Japanese concept.

[cọng rơm · Rating 4 out of 5]

hồi đó có coi cái phim kia, trong phim có trai thích thu âm mọi thứ, kể cả tiếng sóng biển, tiếng gió thổi, tiếng ánh đèn trong cơn mưa và tiếng cánh hoa rơi
xong đã xao xuyến nghĩ chòi oi trai giống mình ghê nè...
cái thủa còn trẻ điên cuồng, tôi từng mỗi ngày bật điện thoại thu tám ngàn âm thanh, có những khi ngồi một mình trong quán cà phê vắng hoe tôi cũng thu cả sự cô đơn của mình
giờ già ròi, mệt ròi, sở thích gìn giữ hồi ức cũng đã mai một xòi

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides an interesting concept about sound and silence, what it means and how it is all around you. While this is a longer picture book, I believe that children who are a little older will appreciate this and even try to replicate or listen to what the boy within the book hears. I also appreciated the information contained within the Afterword; I thought it was a great extra touch.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything about this book felt fresh to me! The story and the pictures were modern, urban and thoughtful. This was a perfect pairing of author and illustrator with a final product that made me pause, reflect and savor.

[Ana Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this picture book, a little different to the usual. Set in Japan about a little boy who is trying to find silence within the bustling city of Tokyo, school life and family life. The use of images and text remind us to look at our surroundings and use all of the senses we can.

[Sophie Snowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books follows the journey of one boy on his quest to find silence. The focus on the power of silence is amazing and could be used positively within the class to explore the delicate power of sound. This would be a powerful book to explore through music where children could explore the importance of silence and why we need it in music. If possible children could go to a room in the school where they can experience complete silence. They could write about how it makes them feel and why they think it makes them feel that way. You could also explore sounds through nature. You could take small groups of children on a nature walk so that you can remind them to be quite and appreciate the sounds around them. If possible you could take the children into the city or town and compare the sounds they hear.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katrina Goldsaito fills the story of young Yoshio's search with a city walk, describing sounds in a variety of places like the koto sounds are "twangy and twinkling" and the "thwack of his boots on the pavement." Julia Kuo illustrates the city just as a city is, filled to the brim with sounds and sights. She created with pen and ink, but colored digitally with Photoshop, realistic and detailed. The story shows Yoshio's search for silence after a street koto player tells him that silence ("ma" in Japanese) is her favorite sound. He's curious and wonders how he will ever find it. The reader will love what he discovers!

[OWS Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book - and a great conversation starter to use in the elementary classroom.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely, contemplative book. I believe it is to be experienced and absorbed. I won't break the silence by holding forth on it.

[Rachael Dixon Eklund · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book first grabbed my attention because it takes place in Tokyo, a place I have visited several times and love. I was eager to see how author, Katrina Goldsaito and Illustrator Julia Kuo expressed the distinct culture that is Tokyo. Would the busy streets and colorful characters be presented or the traditional Japan? I was delighted to see both aspects delivered with perfect harmony.
The story revolves around this idea of "ma" the silence between sounds. A young boy, Yoshio is walking along the busy streets and finds a koto player strumming the stings of her instrument. He walks up to the koto player and asks her, "do you have a favorite sound?" and she replies with "ma". Yoshio goes in search of "ma" and finds it has been everywhere that he has searched, only muted by the surrounding sounds.
Children will enjoy this, Charlotte Zolotow Award Nominee (2017) book as it is narrated through the eyes of young Yoshio. It would serve as a great introduction to cultural differences and similarities, a springboard to a sound content lesson, or a literacy sequence of events lesson. Students may use the book to create their own search for "ma" and discover what sound might be their favorite. There are many potential uses for this wonderful book.

[superawesomekt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up at the local bookstore because I LOVED the illustrations. I am a sucker for well illustrated children's books. My 2 year old daughter loved this book, but she is a precocious reader, so I think it might be better suited for the 3-4+ crowd generally. (My older son doesn't care for it as much.) The setting is in Tokyo and the rhythm of the text is so beautiful, it is some of the best prose I have read in a children's book. My friend who has lived in Japan read it to my kids and loved it, too. She said it definitely evokes Tokyo and she loved the diversity of the illustrations of the Japanese people.

Add to these beautiful illustrations and text a lovely story and message and you have a simply wonderful book. I would absolutely recommend this as a gift to someone who loves music, art, or Japan.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richly colored, beautifully detailed illustrations of geometric layouts and a vivid, diverse portrait of Tokyo, but the art also zooms and and simplifies to compliment the themes of silence and mindfulness--the moments which lie between and ground the noise of life. (I only regret the obnoxious digital textures.) The narrative isn't especially complicated, but it's playful, gently contemplative, and effective, and because this can serve as child's introduction to Japanese setting and culture it pulls double duty weight. I didn't love this--I like more weirdness and wonder in my picture books--but it's a pleasure.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sound of Silence (Hardcover)
by Katrina Goldsaito
Beautiful multicultural book. Japanese society, and social history is flavored through out the book. But the simple idea of Ma, the sound of silence is the important lesson. Although the first grade class was intrigued with the story in its presentation, its the adult look at it that adds meaning into it. The Idea that the youngest audience would miss that Ma, is part of all things. The meditation on it is moving to adults, and older readers.

[Sunny Welker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A coworker shared this book with me and I am enamored. Simple idea of finding the silence in the spaces between. Fits with the mindfulness practice I am developing. The art is different and I really like it. I recently visited Japan and though I didn't tour Tokyo, I get excited that I identify with the train platforms and architectural details. Lovely book...even for adults.

[Zoe Mobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked how this book was set in Japan and the words and clever illustrations transported me there!! I think this book could be used with cross curricular learning on Japan or it could be used for learning about senses and descriptive writing incorporating that. My favourite part was when he finally found the silence when he was reading!

[Mireille Abbots-Vergnaud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a boy who is trying to search for silence in the busy city of Tokyo. This book gives children an insight into Japan and the people’s culture. I particularly liked it when the boy finally found the silence and realised that silence is all around us.

[Stacy Natal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great picture book to illustrate the Japanese concept of Ma, the silence between sounds.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This was a new experience for me, learning about Ma : a Japanese concept of the sound of silence.

I think it's pure and comforting.

[Nadhira Satria · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for the book realm bingo

[Patricia Q · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is Simu Liu reading this aloud: https://youtu.be/obsx3UyulKQ