Dawn
by Marc Martin; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Candlewick Studio    48 pp.
7/25    9781536232400    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781536244762    $18.99

With a spare, lyrical text and luminous illustrations, Martin immerses readers in the meditative moments of dawn. A butterfly breaks free from its chrysalis (“transform / unfurl”). A hummingbird suspends itself in midair (“flutter”). A frog unsuccessfully hunts a fly (“wait / watch /flick / miss”). Martin packs his sixty-two-word text with alliteration (“Dawn // dew / deer”) and rhyme (“fly / fish / flight / follow // jump / catch / dive / swallow”). His watercolor, pencil, and digital collage illustrations capture the filtered-light fuzziness of daybreak. By manipulating the reader’s viewpoint, Martin encourages observation and perspective-shifting. A view of the sunlit forest from the ground (“tree tops”) obscures the deer revealed in the subsequent, zoomed-in side view (“tree trunks”). He illustrates some scenes, such as the discernable bodies of four insects, in scientific detail (“dragonfly / cicada / bee / beetle”) and paints others, such as images of water, more abstractly (“reflection / shimmer”). The book’s thoughtful visual pacing echoes its rhythmic text. Martin mixes single-image scenes with combinations of vertical and horizontal panels to guide readers through small, quick happenings—for example, a series of four vertical panels depicting snapshots of a ladybug climbing a dew-laced blade of grass (“climb / quench / drip / drop”), and bigger events that demand pause, such as the panoramic final full-bleed, double-page spread of the rising sun (“sky”). A perfect morning counterpart to bedtime books.

From the September/October 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.