Put down your device and listen to Tomie dePaola

It seems fitting that the author of Strega Nona — a children’s book that features an overflowing pasta pot — would be inspired to write another book by a restaurant scene.

This one, though, held none of the chaos of the surging spaghetti. It was spookily quiet, with all members of the family staring wordlessly at an electronic device.

Listen to children’s author Tomie dePaola describe the book it spawned, Quiet, to Morning Edition’s Rachel Martin.