Silence Sounds Simple: A Day in the Life of John Cage

"...a joyful evocation of [Cage's] artistic philosophy...Andrea D'Aquino's marriage of words and images is captivating."–The New York Times

★ School Library Journal, starred review
★ Booklist, starred review
★ The Horn Book, starred review
★ CCBC, starred review

Spend a day with composer John Cage—hear what he hears, see what he sees, and get caught up in the music he weaves from his experiences. Here is a nonfiction picture book perfect for kids ages 7–10 who love music and exploring the world of sounds around them.

John Cage is a man who makes music with screws and bolts or with 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. John 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. He even hears music in the silence of the forest as he harvests mushrooms.

Author Gary Golio’s poetic text and illustrator Andrea D’Aquino’s bright, graphic illustrations remind kids to “open your ears / open your mind… YOU ARE / the music / the noise / the silence.”

A visual artist, musician, and psychotherapist, Gary Golio is the author of the New York Times-bestselling picture book Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow, which received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, as did his recent Calkins Creek book Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem. Gary’s other titles, most of which profile important artists, include When Bob Met Woody, Strange Fruit, Sonny Rollins Plays the Bridge, and The Soldier’s Friend. He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife, children’s book author Susanna Reich. Visit garygolio.com.


Andrea D’Aquino is the author and illustrator of several picture books, including A Life Made by Hand: The Story of Ruth Asawa; She Heard the Birds: The Story of Florence Merriam Bailey; and an illustrated edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She recently illustrated the Calkins Creek book Abzuglutely!: Battling, Bellowing Bella Abzug by Sarah Aronson. Andrea has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, and the Type Director’s Club, among many other illustration organizations.