Tomie dePaola: Pens a Soothing Story for a Weary World

Quiet by Tomie dePaola

Tomie dePaola

Pens a Soothing Story for a Weary World

by Melissa Fales

In an increasingly loud world, Tomie dePaola’s latest book is remarkably silent. “This book really came from me, but the idea is obviously much bigger than me,” he says. “I finished Quiet over a year ago and now what do I suddenly start reading about everywhere? Mindfulness. Being present. There’s a synchronicity there. Something’s happening amidst all the turmoil in this country. There’s a yearning for calm. There’s an energy. It’s interesting to think of quiet as an energy but it is a very positive one.”

With well over 260 books bearing his name and over 25 million copies sold, dePaola is a legend of children’s literature. He’s received Caldecott and Newbery Honor Awards and the Children’s Literature Legacy Award. Most people are familiar with his books—especially his stories about Strega Nona—and can instantly recognize his illustrations. Fewer people know he is a firm believer in and daily practitioner of meditation. “I don’t do Transcendental Meditation or anything that has a label,” he says. “I practice the Tomie dePaola method. In fact, I don’t even like to use the word ‘meditation.’ I like to use the word ‘sit.’ I sit every day, and sometimes wonderful things happen.”

dePaola has always had an appreciation for sacred, spiritual traditions. After graduating from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, he entered a monastery, fully intending to become a monk. “I entered the same monastery three times and left three times,” he says. “They were very nice to let me try it three times. The third time, I realized that I wasn’t meant to be a monk. I was meant to be an artist, a children’s book illustrator and author, but I also realized I could still be monk-like.”

Even as a young child, dePaola expressed an interest in and had a talent for art. His parents fully nurtured and encouraged his dream—even clearing out half of their Connecticut home’s attic and allowing him to use it as a dedicated studio space.

"Let's not be so busy. Why don't we sit here, you next to me."

This book is very much the product of me thinking about what I want to pass on to young people,” he says. “At this stage of the game, I don’t do school visits, so I don’t get to interact with children as much as I used to. This book came out of me wondering what I have to give to them. I came up with giving them the idea to be still. To take time to daydream and to have fantasies. To just sit and let their minds go. And to be quiet.”

One Christmas he received a treasure trove of art supplies. “I got oils, pastels ... you name it,” he says. “It was like an art store under the Christmas tree for me that year. It made all the difference in my life, because what they were really saying with all of this was, ‘We love you. We believe in you. We believe you will be an artist.’”

The best feature of that attic studio was a window dePaola spent hours gazing through, allowing his mind to wander. “The view was spectacular,” he recalls. “I could see the hanging hills of Meriden in the distance. I would stare out that window, dreaming and imagining.” He did a lot of dreaming and imagining during his school days, too, much to the chagrin of his second grade teacher. “My desk was near the windows,” he says. “How could I not look outside? Who could blame me? But she would always scold me and tell me to stop daydreaming. I would say, ‘I’m not daydreaming, Miss Gardner, I’m thinking.’ She didn’t like it much when I would make drawings on my arithmetic paper, either.”

dePaola says he feels that children are conditioned to spend too much time “doing” and not enough time just sitting and thinking, both in school and out. “They’re overscheduled,” he says. “Some kids have activities planned for every free moment of their day.” In fact, says dePaola, seeing a child sitting still for an extended length of time would likely be cause for concern among parents. “I bet some parents would go ballistic if they found their child in his or her room, just sitting there, without headphones on or moving their thumbs on a device or watching some screen going. They’d think that something was wrong. They’d give them medication. They’d take them to therapy. But the truth is spending time being quiet with yourself gives you some balance in who you are.”

To be quite and still is a special thing.

That’s the message of Quiet (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers). At the beginning of the story, there’s a lot going on, but then the activity tapers off. “The book starts out busy and full,” says dePaola. “Then the energy is pulled way down. Hopefully it will bring young and old people alike to a space where they can be very quiet and take a breath and revive themselves.”

The fact that the grandfather in the story bears a strong resemblance to dePaola is not a coincidence. “This book is very personal to me,” he says. “I did draw the grandfather to look like me, only I did make him thinner, and he’s wearing a beautiful Shaker style hat that I don’t own but really need to get.” From the start, dePaola knew he wanted this book to convey a certain tenor and tone. “When I was halfway done, I realized that the illustrations just weren’t right,” he says. “I ditched them and started over. I had a very specific idea of not just how I wanted this book to look, but how I wanted it to feel.”

At 84, the jovial dePaola has the luxury of looking back on a life well lived. “This book is very much the product of me thinking about what I want to pass on to young people,” he says. “At this stage of the game, I don’t do school visits, so I don’t get to interact with children as much as I used to. This book came out of me wondering what I have to give to them. I came up with giving them the idea to be still. To take time to daydream and to have fantasies. To just sit and let their minds go. And to be quiet.”

For more information about Tomie dePaola and his awardwinning books, visit tomie.com. •