We love incorporating books in our yoga classes! Bliss Books features some of our favorite mindfulness books, authors, and illustrators.
Reviewed by Brandy Mansfield, BKY volunteer
Charlotte and The Quiet Place
Author: Deborah Sosin I Illustrator: Sara Woolley
Age Range: 3-7 years of age
It is quiet at last.
It is so, so quiet, Charlotte notices an even quieter place.
A place deep in her belly where her breath is soft and even. A place deep in her mind where her thoughts are hushed and low. A place as quiet as the small silence on the very last page of her favorite book. The silence right after “The End.”
– Charlotte and the Quiet Place
Charlotte and the Quiet Place is the story of a young girl named Charlotte who, try as she might, cannot find a quiet place anywhere! We meet her in her noisy house where the TV bellows and blares, we follow her to school where the trays clatter and clash, out into the streets where the sirens warble and wail, and even to the park that buzzes and blusters and hums. Charlotte can’t seem to find peace and quiet anywhere! Desperate for silence at the end of her wits, Charlotte breaks down and screams NO!! I have to find a quiet place!
One day, while on a walk, Charlotte’s dog Otto gets loose, and she has to chase him down the street all the way to a grove and when she finally catches him, she is out of breath. She closes her eyes and tries to slow her breathing and as her breathing slows down, she realizes her mind slows down and when her mind slows down, she finds the quiet she has been searching for all along.
Charlotte goes back home, and even though everything is still very noisy, she remembers the day in the grove, and when she needs a place to rest, she travels back to the place she found there—the quiet place inside.
Charlotte and the Quiet Place features beautiful full and half-spread watercolor illustrations including wispily drawn text that represents the breath. The book is not too text-heavy and easy to read, and it does a great job of teaching young readers how they can always find quiet and calm in the busy and noisy world around them.
Awards:
2015 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Gold Award Winner!
2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards Silver Medalist!
2015 National Parenting Publications Bronze Award Winner!
About the Author:
Deborah Sosin is a writer, editor, and clinical social worker specializing in mindfulness-based psychotherapy. She holds an MSW from Smith College School for Social Work and an MFA from Lesley University. Her essays have appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine, the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and in numerous other publications. She teaches at GrubStreet in Boston and offers “Write It Like It Is” workshops. She lives in a quiet apartment outside of Boston, Massachusetts, with her very quiet cats, Sophia and Sascha. This is her first book.
About the illustrator:
Sara Woolley is an award-winning illustrator and visual artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to creating captivating watercolor illustrations and graphics for books, Woolley has designed costume pieces, puppets, and props for stage and film. She currently teaches at the Academy of Art University, where she earned her MFA.
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