"She started collecting things she noticed,
because Myra Louise was a very good noticer.
She collected copper wire and bits of
string and lost buttons and tinfoil.
She collected seashells and tiny
stones and egg cartons and wool."
I am constantly on the lookout for books that find value in the quiet that introverts seek. I wish I had known more while I was still teaching. I strongly believe that all children need to see portraits of themselves in the books they read. When a child who craves quiet in a very loud, boisterous world reads a story about a person who has similar feelings, that child can relax a bit knowing they are not alone in feeling the way they feel.
Myra Louise is such a child. She likes the beauty to be found in the silence that surrounds her, and the chance to really hear what is happening where she is. She listens to the crickets in the evening, loves the hum of a dryer when she is at the laundromat, and the sound of her own very soft voice. Her classmates, her teacher, her mother, and her friends don't understand why she is 'so quiet'. She finds herself wishing she had the answer to their oft-asked question.
She sets herself the task of finding the answer. Reading and collecting materials leads to the creation of 'a listening machine'. What she does next is authentic and inspiring. Along the way, she discovers something very important about herself and can then share it with others.
Risa Hugo creates scenes that match the quiet tone of the telling, allowing young readers a chance to explore and examine the emotions felt by Myra Louise. If no one is quiet, who will do the listening?
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