By Nidhi Chanani

Karima’s world is alive through sounds, not through words. She delights in the everyday music around her: the scurrying of squirrel feet, the beep of bus cards being scanned, the symphony of sounds in the park. She doesn’t speak aloud in the text, and so, to others, she is “Quiet Karima.” There is much more to her than that, though. “Quiet Karima is not all that I am,” she thinks after expressing herself through music.

This story could connect with so many of the quiet kids constantly being prodded to speak more or being called shy in most every interaction. It may also speak to nonverbal kids or help other children understand that complexity can live in quiet too. It celebrates the richness of spirit that can hide in the most seemingly introverted kids.