25th February Quiet Day

    

Quiet Day, also known as Don't Utter a Word Day, is observed annually on February 25th. It  was established to remind us to slow down and give silence a chance. It is about taking a pause and appreciating the sound of silence. Noise is everywhere — be it on the train, in a busy office, in the classroom, or even at home!

Most religions advocate for quiet and the wonders it can do for one’s emotional and physical well-being. They advocate for meditation and reflection.

Surrounding ourselves with peace and clarity can open our minds to new experiences and inspire us to lead more meaningful lives. 

It is very hard to get a class full of children to be completely quiet for any length of time, but some students do find their classrooms and the playground 'noisy'. These students come to the library at lunchtime and say can you make it quiet here. Even that isn't always possible because there are groups of children using puppets, doing jigsaw puzzles, drawing ... Perhaps I should invest in some headphones for the library, but I do like the congenial, cross-grade chat that occurs at lunchtime.

I will do a display of books for Quiet Day in the hope that some of them may spark some good discussions about silence and its virtues.

Books to display:

•  Be Quiet!  by Ryan T. Higgins

• Silence  by Lemniscates

•  Quiet by Tommy de Paola

• The Quiet Book  by Deborah Underwood

• The Quiet Place  by Sarah Stewart

• A Quiet Girl  by Peter Carnavas

• Quiet as a Mouse  by Martha Lightfoot

• Charlotte and the Quiet Place  by Deborah Sosin  Sara Woolley

• The Sound of Silence  by Katrina Goldsaito & Julia Kuo

• Hush! by Minfong Ho & Holly Meade 

• The Silence Slips In  by Alison Hughes & Ninon Pelletier

• I Am Quiet  by Andie Powers and Betsy Petersen

• Silence  by Lena Shamshurina

• Why Are You So Quiet? by Jaclyn Desforges & Risa Hugo

• Mole's Quiet Place  by Jane Chapman

• When I Listen to Silence  by Jean E. Pendziwol & Carmen Mok

• Quiet, Please!  by Russ Williams

• I Don't Want to be Quiet! by Laura Ellen Anderson

• Shhh! Quiet!  by Nicola Kinnear