Early one morning, a young boy wakes to the light of his alarm clock. He puts on his hearing aids and clothes, then goes to wake his father. Together they brave the cold as they walk down the dirt road that leads to the beach. Lakin’s understated story reminds readers that sometimes the best way to communicate doesn’t involve words, while Steele’s watercolor illustrations show that beauty is never far away.
What makes this one special is the handsome impressionistic watercolors evoking the shadowy, gradually brightening scene and the casually introduced fact that the young narrator is deaf but has many ways of communicating (including both lip reading and signing) and enjoys a grand range of observations and sensations, crowned by the glorious sunrise he shares with his dad.
Dealt with simply, as part of the reality of their relationship, the boy’s deafness is unobtrusively woven into this story about a father and child sharing a moment in time. In tune with the sensitive tone of the text, Steele’s atmospheric watercolor illustrations capture the rising light of dawn as well as the love between the boy and his father.
