One Small Person In The Children's Library

For the past two days, something has been drawing me to the Children's Library. I've tried pushing the feeling aside, but today I gave in. It must have been the day I was supposed to be there.
As I walked into the bright, colorful library, I saw in the center of the foam block circle a little black-haired girl sitting on the blue carpet. She had her knees pulled up so she could prop her book up on them.
"Hi," I said. "Whatcha doing?
"Reading," came the soft reply. She didn't look up.
"Whatcha reading?" I asked.
Instead of answering, she looked up at me with a frown on her face and said, "Who are you?"
Caught off guard, I could only reply, "Someone who likes to read too."
She said, "Oh," and went back to her book.
"Can I asked you one question?" I said.
Looking up again and making me feel I had truly interrupted her, she said, "Only one!"
My, such maturity. She sounded like my mother.
"Well," I started, "if you could recommend only one book to your friends, what would it be?"
I could see the gears grinding in her head. She stared straight ahead while deep in thought.
"Only one?" she asked.
"Yes, m'am, only one."
It was her turn to say, "Well." Then she climbed over the red foam block and walked to a book shelf where she pulled out a rather large book.
"This one," she said and handed it to me.
I looked at the title. The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle. And on the front of the white cover was a picture of a very large, colorful cricket.
"Why do you like this one?" I asked.
"Open it," she said. So, I did.
Suddenly there was the noise of a cricket chirping. "Crick-crick, crick-crick, crick-crick."
I raised my eyebrows and smiled at her. She smiled back.
"See," she said. Then she crawled back over the red foam block, sat down and began to read her book again. I had been dismissed.
The Very Quiet Cricket is a story about a tiny cricket. When he is born, he meets a big cricket who chirps his welcome. But when the tiny cricket tries to respond, there is not a sound.
As with Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider, this is a multi-sensory book; it is also multi-experiential. Children will see the bold, colorful, textured art; hear or read the rhythmic, frequently alliterative text; and finally hear the quiet cricket's sweet song as they turn the last pages of the book. All readers, even the smallest, will delight in the surprise at the end of the book.
That's what the little girl in the Children's Library wants everyone to know. That even the lowliest creature will find its voice, as silent or joyous as that may be.