When Sunlight Tiptoes

Vibrant language and rhythm celebrate the start of a new day in this uplifting poem about a city waking up.

On a beautiful, sunny morning, a family runs errands along a city street. They visit a bakery, flower shop and fruit market. Exuberant in sounds and sights—a baker sugaring tarts, flowers greeting passers-by and pigeons cooing—the story ends as a new day of sparkling possibility begins. Written in pantoum form and illustrated with delightful three-dimensional diorama images that play with light and shadow, When Sunlight Tiptoes is sure to brighten the day of our littlest readers.

Gillian Sze is the author of multiple poetry collections and picture books, including My Love For You Is Always and You Are My Favorite Color. Her first picture book The Night is Deep and Wide was listed as one of the Best Books for Kids in 2021 by the New York Public Library. Originally from Winnipeg, she now resides in Montreal, where she teaches creative writing and literature.

Soyeon Kim is a Toronto-based illustrator, art educator, and artist, originally from South Korea. Her work specializes in merging fine sketching and painting techniques to produce three-dimensional dioramas. Kim is a graduate of York University and has illustrated several children’s picture books, including You Are Stardust, Is This Panama?, and Wild Ideas.