ALA Booklist (Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2010)

Silence is the story in these simple scenarios, featuring young animal characters, that show suspense, eloquence, and surprise in what looks like emptiness. The tense scenes between characters balance quiet before a big noise: at the top of a roller coaster; before a concert starts; right before someone yells, "Surprise!" Then there is the magical transformation of a silent snowfall and the comfort of a bedtime kiss. The digitally colored pencil illustrations show a cast of young animals bear, rabbit, porcupine, owl, and more and some of the illustrations may be a bit muted for young preschoolers. But children will enjoy talking about the feelings that are shown, and every page tells a different story. The most moving scenes leave space for imagining. "Best friends don't need to talk," for example, is illustrated with a blissful scene of togetherness that children will relate to their own lives.

Horn Book

There are "many kinds of quiet" in a child's day, from "trying not to hiccup quiet" to "sleeping sister quiet." Featuring different animal characters and capturing the essence of each hushed moment, the soft colored-pencil art in a muted palette provides a stylish match to the book's soothing tone. This is a successful board book adaptation; the slightly smaller-size pages give the whole more intimacy.

Kirkus Reviews

This gallery of quietude works for bedtime or calming down while also acknowledging that some quiet moods are less than happy. Each page shows one type of quietness, from classics such as, "Sleeping sister quiet," to the creative locale of "Swimming underwater quiet," to the delightful specificity of "Trying not to hiccup quiet." As these young children (moose, bear, rabbit, mouse and porcupine) move from scene to scene, they experience some contented silences (watching a robin, skipping rocks with a friend) and some tinged with insecurity ("First look at your new hairstyle quiet"), regret ("Jelly side down quiet"—a sandwich falling to the floor) or worry ("Last one to get picked up from school quiet"). The final sequence—a nighttime car ride in the snow, peaceful steps to bedtime—makes a comforting end. Liwska colors her finely hatched pencil drawings with low-value, low-intensity hues, matching the theme of low aural volume with a muted but detailed visual quality that invites a close look. Soothing and layered. (Picture book. 3-5)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

“There are many kinds of quiet,” Underwood (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Pirate Mom) writes, and this treasure of a book—which is appropriately gentle in both its understated text and artwork—catalogues many sorts of quiet that readers will recognize instantly. Some are lovely (“First one awake quiet”; “Lollipop quiet”); some less so (“First look at your new hairstyle quiet”); and some are out-and-out problems (“Thinking of a good reason you were drawing on the wall quiet”). Throughout, Liwska's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Little Panda) subtly engaging illustrations, single-page vignettes in muted rusts, greens, and browns, imagine a community of young, delicately furred animals who ably reflect the emotions that each type of quiet elicits. A young moose's antlers peek provocatively from behind a swiveling office chair (“Hide-and-seek quiet”); a bear holds its paw over its eyes as a nurse prepares a hypodermic (“Pretending you're invisible quiet”); and an owl looks upwards with awe and clasps its wing to its chest (“First snowfall quiet”). Underwood's taxonomy of quiet will evoke soft smiles from listeners who are getting ready for “bedtime kiss” quiet (and possibly, even later, for “What flashlight?” quiet). Ages 3–5. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Apr.)

School Library Journal (Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2010)

K-Gr 1 This gentle picture book subtly explores the many different kinds of "quiet." Bears, rabbits, porcupines, mice, owls, moose, and wombats are depicted in situations that effectuate the notion of quiet throughout the daily life of a young child. For example, the "first one awake quiet" shows a rabbit doing his morning stretches. In "Right before you yell, 'SURPRISE!' quiet," three animal friends crouch behind a couch. "Making a wish quiet" presents a contemplative porcupine sitting on a stool wearing a party hat. A bear and a rabbit playing tag with the waves at the beach symbolize, "Best friends don't need to talk quiet." The soft, matte feel of the illustrations, created with pencil, are digitally enhanced, and are priceless. The animals' facial expressions and body language are endearing. White space is used creatively to emphasize the mostly gray or brown palette. All of the scenarios are child-centric and realistic. A delightful and enchanting choice for storytime or sharing one-on-one. Anne Beier, Hendrick Hudson Free Library, Montrose, NY