The Other Way to Listen - Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall

The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor (author) and Peter Parnall (illustrator) / ISBN 9780684160177 / 32-page hardcover, 7.75 x 10 inches, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, reprint of a 1978 book

***

With a lot of practice, a young boy learns from his old teacher how to listen to the sounds and songs of the natural world.

When you know “the other way to listen,” you can hear the wild-flower seed bursting open. You hear rocks murmuring and hills singing, and it seems like the most natural thing in the world. Of course, it takes a lot of practice, and you can’t be in a hurry. Most people never hear these things at all.

This is the story of an old man who had a special way of hearing and of a child who hoped to learn his secrets. Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall have combined their unique, award-winning talents to celebrate the world of nature.

Byrd Baylor lives and writes in Arizona, presenting images of the Southwest and an intense connection between the land and the people. Her prose illustrates vividly the value of simplicity, the natural world, and the balance of life within it.