Wild Silence

Award-winning nature photographer Pete McBride shares tales of his travels to remote, quiet places on each continent; his captivating narrative is accompanied by engaging educational content, spectacular photographs, and companion illustrations.

There is an invisible, magical world all around you. When it’s quiet, and you listen carefully, you can hear it. Award-winning nature photographer Pete and author Pete McBride has searched the globe for special places where it’s silent enough to hear the music of nature. Here, he shares tales and photos from amazing adventures on every continent.

In this nonfiction tour around the world for ages 8-12, accompanied by stunning photographs and complementary illustrations, McBride shares his experiences of places in the world where human noise pollution recedes and allows the sounds of the natural world to be heard. The reader accompanies McBride on all seven continents, centered on his tales of memorable encounters with nature and its sounds and anchored with photographs. McBride’s vivid storytelling includes place-based stories, such as the ice on Mount Everest and a close encounter with an avalanche, as well as stories based on encounters with animals like the electric eel he narrowly avoided in the Amazon River.

The book, adapted for young readers from the award-winning Seeing Silence, is organized by continent, with educational material about each place augmenting McBride’s engaging narratives. Materials include maps, contextual information about each continent, a mini-essay focused on inspirational individuals or organizations working for positive change, and QR codes that link to videos and recordings of nature’s sounds. The stunning graphics include 16 pages of McBride’s photographs, with each continent as well as companion illustrations. McBride notes that his photographs “are meant to reveal the natural music of our wild realms and their importance not only for wildlife, but also for the fragile solace they provide us. They are visual meditations…For me, these photographs are reminders of the natural world and what it has to say—if we listen.”
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR / PHOTOGRAPHER:

Native Coloradan Pete McBride has spent three decades studying the world with a camera. An award-winning photographer, filmmaker, author, and public speaker, he is a Sony Artisan of Light and has traveled on assignment to more than 75 countries for the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian, Outside, The Washington Post, and many others. He has spoken on stages for TEDx, The World Economic Forum, Pixar, Nat Geo Live, Changemakers, and more. His feature documentary, Into the Canyon, was nominated for an Emmy in 2020, and his books The Grand Canyon: Between River and Rim, Seeing Silence, and The Colorado River: Chasing Water have all won National Outdoor Book Awards. His latest book is Witness to Water: One Photographer’s Mission to Defend the Colorado River, published in March 2026. He has more than 800,000 followers on Instagram.

 

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR:

Ségolène Derudder is an illustrator, muralist, and graphic designer who splits her time between Paris and the southwest of
France. Specializing in pointillism and detail drawing, her distinctive style captures reality and reinforces details with her
meticulous lines. As an artist she is passionate about portraying organic landscapes and nature. In recent years, she has
showcased her talent in France and internationally for Guerlain, Fauré le Page, Lancôme, the TINAH hotels, La Poste, Adobe, du
Chêne editions, and others.