Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 05/01/2025 Enchanting, digitally enhanced watercolors recreate the diffused light of an early morning on a lake and depict the quiet busyness of flora and fauna at this time of day. Nearly full-page panels, with occasional paired and even triptych illustrations, are framed by white space with spare, one-word descriptions, beginning with the titular “Dawn.” The picture book is more of an experience than a traditional story, using several techniques to help young readers make connections. With the alliterative “sound” and “spring,” for example, a deer freezes when it hears a noise and then leaps away from potential threat, while opposites, like “hide” with a small lizard and “emerge” with a cicada, show varying animal behaviors. Several short series also create storylike elements, such as a lively interaction between a fly and the fish that wants to (and successfully does) eat it. The deceptive simplicity allows children to fill in the gaps by coming up with their own story. A “glint” and “glimmer” of the sun and eventual concluding sunrise cue the day and end of this lovely book. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.