The Sound of a Smile

A girl who cannot hear the noisy world discovers intricate sounds hidden between a song’s notes, a wing’s beats and the quiet spaces other people miss. For 3+ year olds, this mesmerising and moving picture book explores deafness, friendship and communication through Louise Greig’s lyrical text and David Litchfield’s warm, expressive illustrations. Highly recommended. – Tom Tolkien * School Reading List *

Silent is my LOUD! A young deaf girl explains why not being able to hear doesn’t mean her days are spent without sound in a moving and enlightening picture book from the award-winning duo of author and poet Louise Grieg and illustrator David Litchfield. Greig, who had to give up on plans to be an air stewardess because of her progressive deafness, draws on her own experiences to explore deafness, friendship and the universal ways in which we can all communicate.
Meet a girl who can’t hear the noisy world around her. In her ears, those sounds are sleeping. But she has found sounds that are hiding… between the notes of a song, between the beats of a wing. And between those sounds are her sounds and she listens. What if someone in the noisy world listened to the beauty and magic of the silent things too? Perhaps they might discover the sound of a smile… or even better, the sound of a friend.
Litchfield’s heartwarming and expressive illustrations put extra power and emotion into Greig’s lyrical and beautiful portrayal of a world where silence sings and where hidden sounds and small movements like a friend’s wave or a shrug can speak as loudly as a voice.

Louise Greig (Author)

Louise Greig is an award-winning writer whose early years were spent near Glasgow, dominated by a love of animals and horse riding. She completed her school years in Aberdeen and embarked on a career as an air stewardess before progressive deafness forced her to seek new opportunities.

Having always had a love of poetry, Louise started writing in 2014, prompted by an advertisement for a poetry competition. Her children’s picture books have been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Klaus Flugge Prize. Sweep! was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal and her adaptation of The Little Prince has been translated into over 20 languages.

David Litchfield (Illustrator)

David Litchfield first started to draw when he was very young, creating comics for his older brother and sister. Since then his work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, books and on T-shirts. David’s first picture book The Bear and the Piano won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. He lives in Bedfordshire.

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