THE MOST ORDINARY DAY

Illustrated map showing the family’s journey across Europe in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Illustrated map showing the family’s journey across Europe in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.

The Most Ordinary Day is an author-illustrated picture book exploring displacement, belonging, childhood resilience, friendship, and hope through the eyes of a six-year-old girl.

Although the story begins with war, it is ultimately a story about humanity, compassion, and the quiet strength of children.

The book was selected for the dPICTUS Unpublished Picturebook Showcase at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in 2026 and presented internationally at the London Book Fair.

Inside the Book

Cover of The Most Ordinary Day picture book by Hanna Martynenko showing a girl looking from a car window.
Girl arriving in a new country and feeling like a stranger in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Children riding bicycles together in the hopeful ending of The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Girl lying awake as war changes her world in The Most Ordinary Day picture book by Hanna Martynenko.
Young girl feeling lonely after moving to a new country in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Young girl sitting on a swing beneath a tree surrounded by flowers. Illustration from The Most Ordinary Day.
Young girl sitting in a bomb shelter during wartime in The Most Ordinary Day picture book by Hanna Martynenko.
Girl making friends with Poppy and Bella in a new country in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
The Most Ordinary Day featured in the dPICTUS Unpublished Picturebook Showcase.
amily crossing the sea on a ferry during their journey in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Illustrated map showing the family’s journey across Europe in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
The Most Ordinary Day dummy book presented at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
Cover of The Most Ordinary Day picture book by Hanna Martynenko showing a girl looking from a car window.
Young girl sitting in a bomb shelter during wartime in The Most Ordinary Day picture book by Hanna Martynenko.
Girl arriving in a new country and feeling like a stranger in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Girl making friends with Poppy and Bella in a new country in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Children riding bicycles together in the hopeful ending of The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
The Most Ordinary Day featured in the dPICTUS Unpublished Picturebook Showcase.
Girl lying awake as war changes her world in The Most Ordinary Day picture book by Hanna Martynenko.
amily crossing the sea on a ferry during their journey in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Young girl feeling lonely after moving to a new country in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Illustrated map showing the family’s journey across Europe in The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Young girl sitting on a swing beneath a tree surrounded by flowers. Illustration from The Most Ordinary Day.
The Most Ordinary Day dummy book presented at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

Visual Development

Alongside the current picture book dummy, I am developing a new body of work that explores a more hand-drawn and expressive visual language for The Most Ordinary Day.
These drawings revisit key moments from the story while exploring memory, atmosphere, displacement, and belonging through expressive ink-based narrative imagery.

Early visual development showing the girl leaving home for The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Visual development exploring the night scene for The Most Ordinary Day picture book.
Early storyboard and visual development for the family’s journey in The Most Ordinary Day.
Character and composition study for the Stranger Bus scene in The Most Ordinary Day.

For rights enquiries, please contact my literary agent via the Contact page.

Rights & Publishing Enquiries →

info@hannamartynenko.com

London UK