In Defense of Quiet Books or Still Waters Run Deep

In this post from Marsha Diane Arnold (below) she writes about the value of quiet books.

Any picture book writer who’s been around awhile is almost certain to have received a rejection that reads something like this: “Lovely message, beautifully written, but too quiet for today’s market.”

Though “too quiet” has always been around as a reason for rejection, it seems to be used more and more in today’s world, a world that plays mostly fortissimo. It would do writers well to consider this phrase, what it means, and how we should react to it.

 “Wait!” I hear you cry. “What about Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon that’s been reprinted year after year? And Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr’s Owl Moon has been loved since 1987.”

“Shhhh,” I say. These quiet books have done exceptionally well, but they’re not really fair comparisons to today’s books. They were well established long before the cacophony of our time took hold.

However, there are recent books that hit the “too quiet” ball out of the library, so to speak.  My friend and sometimes critique partner Deborah Underwood’s The Quiet Book is a poster child for quiet books everywhere.

Look also at the lovely Caldecott Medal winner, A Sick Day for Amos McGee (Philip C. Stead, Erin Stead) and the recent If you want to see a whale (Julie Fogliano, Erin Stead), both Neal Porter Books published by Roaring Brook Press. Then take a walk with the young girl in Extra Yarn, Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s 2013 Caldecott Honor Book. Indeed, if you look at the last 10 years of Caldecott books, many of them could be described as quiet.

What do editors mean by “too quiet”? Was the story not to their liking? Is the story not engaging enough to attract enough readership in a tight market? Or was it simply boring?

We may never get a satisfying answer about the meaning of “too quiet.”  But if our writing tends toward quiet we can study quiet books that have done well and think about how they’re different from our own rejected quiet ones.

Having recently sold a quiet picture book text, I pondered what made it different from my other rejected quiet stories.  I came up with a list describing what the best quiet books do and what picture book writers should aim for.

Quiet books must be engaging. That could mean having a fascinating hook or a captivating character.

Quiet books must be as vibrant as shining landscape paintings, which are also quiet, yet full of life.

Quiet books can never be synonymous with boring or nothing much happening.

Quiet books’ beautiful writing should not overshadow characters, plot, and action.

Quiet books can still have action, tension, and characters that grow and change.

Quiet books make us think because of their layers and depth.

Quiet books invite the reader inside to explore, discover, and wonder. The story and book should allow space for that exploration.  Extra Yarn is a good example of such a book.

The best quiet books take a simple or everyday event and elevate it to the magical.

If your manuscript doesn’t do one or more of these things, it’s too quiet for our hearts and minds to hear. Try again. 

If you’re talented enough to have your quiet story catch an editor’s eye, then what?  Where do quiet books fit into today’s market?  How can they find a place in our world’s unending din of distracting noise?

Maybe it’s time for the quiet books to get a little bit noisy. Quiet books unite! Perhaps their motto should be, “Still waters run deep.”

Shallow rivers move swiftly, appearing more alive than deeper water.  But that’s an illusion. Quiet people and quiet books, like rivers, often surprise us with their interesting, unexpected, and complicated ideas…with their depth.

Quiet books ask us to slow down, to go inward, to focus.  They rescue us from the non-stop whirlwind. For children who are shy or anxious, quiet books encourage and help them realize they’re not alone.

My children enjoyed quiet books some 30 years ago; children still enjoy them today.

As parents, grandparents, and guardians we must also ask questions. Which books would we prefer our children to pull from their bookshelf night after night? How do we want their brains wired and rewired? What reel do we want them to have running in their heads for the rest of their lives?

So what’s a writer who loves writing quiet books to do? Just as we had to write better picture books as the market tightened, so must we elevate ourselves to the challenge of writing better quiet books as that market tightens. Our children need them, parents need them, the world needs them.

Now, won’t you please excuse me while I go read Miss Rumphius to my granddaughter?

Marsha  Diane Arnold is an award-winning children’s book author with a heart of gold. Besides writing, she enjoys visiting schools internationally, nationally, and through Skype, sharing her love of books and writing through presentations and writing “funshops”.  In 2008 Marsha was honored as one of seven artists invited to be part of Sequoia National Parks Foundation’s Artists in the Back Country, the only children’s author ever invited. The program’s goal is to rekindle the American tradition of enhancing public appreciation of our natural world through the arts. She shares her adventures in the high Sierras at www.earthsvoices.com

When not creating imaginative worlds and wacky characters at her home in northern California, Marsha also enjoys traveling the world, scuba diving, and (like her characters) always trying new things.  To learn more about Marsha’s books or to contact her, visit www.marshadianearnold.com. You can also find out more about Marsha’s phenomenal home school e-course on Writing Wonderful Character-Driven Picture Books at http://www.picturebookacademy.com/writing-character-driven-stories.html