NEWS

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Silence Sounds Simple
A Day in the Life of John Cage
Calkins Creek/Astra

Debuting July 7th!

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OPEN YOUR EARS
OPEN YOUR MIND
YOU ARE
THE MUSIC
THE NOISE
THE SILENCE

John Cage is a man who makes music with screws and bolts or rubber bands.
He’ll play a toy piano onstage in his suit. Why? To make people listen. To make them think.

As John goes through an ordinary day, he finds that it’s full of wonder and full of music.
He hears the seeds of music in everything from slippers scuffing on an old wooden floor and
water whooshing from a faucet to beeping horns and screeching brakes outside his window.
John even hears music in the silence of the forest as he harvests mushrooms.

Spend a day with John Cage.

Hear what he hears, see what he sees, and get caught up in the music he weaves from his experiences.

OPEN THIS BOOK
and
OPEN YOUR EARS!

A nonfiction picture book perfect for kids who love music and exploring the world of sounds around them.

With text by author Gary Golio and illustrations by artist Andrea D'Aquino.

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"A conceptually ambitious and visually arresting biography that encourages attentive listening
and frames curiosity as a disciplined intellectual stance."
School Library Journal *starred review*

"This mind-opening portrait of an imaginative creator presents the act of listening as instinctive and intriguing, and is a beguiling invitation to contemplate the music of sound shaped by silence."
Booklist *starred review*

"Golio's text is full of alliterative metaphor and wordplay...along with sound effects...that appear in varied fonts on creatively designed pages."
Horn Book *starred review*

This unusual, thought-provoking picture book introduces a singular artist by immersing the reader in playful text, dynamic illustrations, and creative book design that successfully evoke his soundscape and offer food for thought, too.
Cooperative Children's Book Center *starred review*

"Golio breaks free of the timeline entirely in what is less an account of Cage’s life than a joyous evocation of his artistic philosophy. ...Andrea D’Aquino’s marriage of words and images is captivating."
The New York Times Book Review

"A mind-expanding exploration of what lies in the spaces between the notes.
The music of silence is celebrated through the lens of a composer who appreciated it more than anyone."
Kirkus