A cup of perfection
Children’s Literature Legacy Award Winner Nikki Grimes’s dedication in A CUP OF QUIET reads “To the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center, where a cup of quiet always awaits.” I read it in the ARC I received while at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center - and I felt my heart glowing already. So yes, this is less of review and more of a glowing recommendation for this beautiful picture book, along with a short interview about the book with the author.
A cup of quiet begins with anything but quiet illustrations in which we see two beautiful people - a girl and her grandmother - playing together. The evocative text marries perfectly with the ebullient illustrations and we are immediately drawn into a comforting world filled with love. It is also an energetic world - and grandma soon announces that she’s ready for a bit of peace.
As the two of them settle into wicker chairs in the back garden - where grandma introduces her grandchild to a wonderful game of make believe. And soon, we are on a journey, filling our hearts with serenity as the child fills “a cup of quiet” with the power of her poetic imagination. With this ode to peace and the beauty of nature, celebrated, acclaimed, best-selling and award-winning poet and author Nikki Grimes has created yet another book that is sure to win many plaques of honor, as well as a very special place in readers’ hearts.
I had the pleasure of chatting briefly with Nikki Grimes about the book. Here’s what we spoke about while sitting miles apart and yet together, sipping our cups of celebration.
Padma Venkatraman:
What was your inspiration for this incredibly creative book? Do you drink cups of quiet with any young people in your life?
NIKKI GRIMES:
I wish I did! What gave me the idea for this book was thinking about something I have often thought, and said: I love the quality of quiet found in nature. It's a quiet that isn't the same as silence, but it is soothing, whether it's the sound of bird song, rustling wind, the whir of a bird's wings, or the buzzing of bees as they dart from flower, to flower. Those sounds are calming, and worth celebrating.
Padma Venkatraman:
What a poetic response to that question! Cup of quiet is such a dazzling metaphor. Do metaphors and poetry come naturally to you as a poet, or do you work at it, or both?
NIKKI GRIMES:
Definitely both. While a basic idea may come to me in a flash of inspiration, developing that idea into full-blown poetry takes work. Trying to describe something in a way that's new, that's fresh, takes a good deal of thought, and experimentation. I might sit for a while trying to nail down the right sequence of words. If I find myself stuck, I'll sometimes turn to a dictionary, or to a thesaurus and experiment with a variety of words I find there until I hit upon one that sparks my imagination, and allows me to complete the metaphor that's exactly right. I believe all writing, whether poetry or prose, is a combination of inspiration and work.
Padma Venkatraman:
Speaking of inspiration and work, how do you, as a brilliant wordsmith, envision and leave space for an illustrator in your picture books?
NIKKI GRIMES:
My job, as a poet, is to paint a story with words, and to spark the reader's imagination. I have to think visually in order to do that. But, since I tell a story using as few words as possible, there is space between the words, and on the page, for artists to enhance my story and to tell their own. I believe the best artists do both.
Padma Venkatraman:
This book is certainly an exemplary example of the best writing and the best art. Speaking of exemplary writing, I’m not sure I’ve ever caught a cliché in any of your books…
NIKKI GRIMES:
Whenever I write the first draft of a poem or a story, I use cliches as placeholders. The cliches remind me of the basic idea I'm after. When I go back over the draft to revise it, I stop to replace each cliche with original metaphors of my own. In that way, I find cliches helpful. They are placeholders that point me in the right direction, but no one ever sees them except me.
Padma Venkatraman:
That’s such a great tip for writers! Thanks for sharing. Do you have any specific suggestions for teachers using this book in the classrooms?
NIKKI GRIMES:
This book offers the perfect opportunity to explore metaphor, and to highlight the healing, calming power of nature. A visit to a garden, whether on the school campus or at a nearby park, would give students a chance to gather sounds, themselves, and then write about them. If a field trip isn't possible, use a video of a garden, or a forest, and have children close their eyes to focus on the sounds they hear. Then have them write a paragraph, or a poem, inspired by those sounds.
Padma Venkatraman:
What a wonderful activity starter. I’m sure this activity starter - in conjunction with your book - will inspire many young poets to create words and works of their own. Do you have any other hopes for readers to take away from this book?
NIKKI GRIMES:
I hope A Cup of Quiet nudges them to go outdoors and explore the healing, calming sounds of nature for themselves.
Padma Venkatraman:
Thanks for chatting with me, dear Nikki! Here’s wishing all of us a healing, calming spring, and wishing you every success with your latest.
Nikki Grimes (photo credit Aaron Lemen)
Nikki Grimes is a New York Times bestselling author and the recipient of the Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award, the ALAN Award, the Children's Literature Legacy Award, the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, and the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her distinguished works include the Printz Honor and Sibert Honor book Ordinary Hazards; NAACP Image Award nominee Planet Middle School; Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade; Coretta Scott King Author Honor books Jazmin’s Notebook, Talkin’ About Bessie, Dark Sons, The Road to Paris, and Words with Wings, which was also named an ALA Notable Book; and What Is Goodbye?, an ALA Notable Book. She lives in Corona, California. Visit her at: www.nikkigrimes.com
Order A Cup of Quiet ISBN # - 9781547610747 at: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/cup-of-quiet-9781547610747/ (Release date – April 15, 2025)
Dr. Padma Venkatraman is an oceanographer, the founder of Diverse Verse, and the author of 5 novels including BORN BEHIND BARS, A TIME TO DANCE, ISLAND's END and CLIMBING THE STAIRS, which have received over 20 starred reviews and won numerous national and international awards and honors. THE BRIDGE HOME, a 2019 Global Read Aloud, won the SCBWI Golden Kite, New England Crystal Kite, WNDB Walter Dean Myers Award, and more and has sold over 1/4 million copies. Her second novel-in-verse, SAFE HARBOR, is available for order and has been called a "must-read" in a starred review from School Library Journal. Padma’s poetry has been published in literary journals, including, most notably, in Poetry magazine. When she's not reading or writing, Padma loves teaching and sharing her love for writing with audiences of all ages all over the world, through her speaking agency, The Author Village.
