ISABELLE AND THE LIBRARY CAT

Children whose shyness keeps them in a vacuum bell of silence will understand Isabelle's predicament. She was the sort of child who saw everything but could bring herself to say nothing in the children's room of the library next door to her house which she visited every day. She was especially drawn to Hugo, the cat who made the place his home, because she had been there the first day he came. When Hugo needed help and gave way to feline panic, it was Isabelle who organized his rescue--and she spoke aloud to do it. Isabelle found it easier after that to crack her sound barrier.