I Go Quiet

David Ouimet

When it's my turn to speak, I go quiet.
I Go Quiet by David Ouimet (Hardback ISBN 9781786897404) book cover

Available as Hardback, eBook

The enchantingly drawn story of a girl who discovers her voice, shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. ‘Astonishingly beautiful’ Neil Gaiman

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CILIP KATE GREENAWAY MEDAL

I Go Quiet
is the exquisite story of an introverted girl, struggling to find her place in a noisy world. Through the power of books, creativity and imagination, she begins to see possibilities for herself beyond the present, to a future where her voice will finally be heard.


“Astonishingly beautiful … I wish this book had been around when I was a child: I would not have felt quite as alone”
Neil Gaiman

See more reviews

“Beautiful and engaging, this book brought tears of joy to my eyes. It sums up my own journey, all the dreams and hopes I never dared speak out loud when I was younger. I was left filled with happiness and I have no doubt that this book will inspire those who discover its magic to embrace and nurture their own voice in this noisy world”
Coralie Bickford-smith

“Stunning … David Ouimet understands that to comfort means to strengthen, not to coddle. I want to send it back in time to my seven-year-old-self”
Stephen Fry

I Go Quiet is poetical, magical and eerily creepy. It is bewildering and mysterious and a master at somehow finding the words to capture something so abstract – isolation, loneliness, solitude and sadness. But the book is not bleak – it offers light and shade, it is full of hope and comfort. It will become a solid silent friend to many readers”
Laura Dockrill

“A powerful book, about the intensity that can live behind silence; about the power of books and how they give us strength and knowledge to deal with the world in which we find ourselves. A wonder”
Matt Haig


David Ouimet

David Ouimet’s illustrations have featured on album covers and books, including Robert D. San Souci’s Dare to be Scared book series and Nancy Etchmendy’s Cat in Glass and other Tales of the Unnatural. Most recently he illustrated Daydreams for Night by musician John Southworth. Ouimet’s work was selected for the Society of Illustrator’s Annual 59 and was exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration in New York City in February 2017.


David Ouimet works in his studio, drawing the rich world of I Go Quiet.

‘Astonishingly beautiful … I wish this book had been around when I was a child: I would not have felt quite as alone’ Neil Gaiman on I Go Quiet