Cover Reveal!
In 2016 Paraclete Press published Make Room: A Child’s Guide to Lent and Easter. Although it was intended to be a stand-alone book and not part of a series, it seemed to strike a chord with readers, leading me to try my hand a similar book for Advent. Look! A Child’s Guide to Advent and Christmas came into the world in 2017. By then, having covered two major arcs of the circle of the church year, I decided I needed to complete the loop. Breathe: A Child’s Guide to Ascension, Pentecost, and the Growing Time carried young readers all the way to Advent again.
I thought I was finished. But two years ago during Lent, my son asked me, “When are you going to write a book about Easter.” Puzzled, I replied that I already had. Make Room concludes with the celebration of resurrection. But even as the words were leaving my mouth, I realized my son was right. Easter Sunday is only the start of fifty days of celebration. It is the threshold of the season of Eastertide–a beginning, not an ending.
The more I pondered the possibility, the more excited I became. I pictured a book similar in format to the others, but exploring the mysterious encounters that happen between Easter and Ascension. I imagined a book that spoke openly about the tendrils of strangeness and sadness that swirl through the joy of these days. I envisioned an book that would take the idea of resurrection and stretch it to include aspects of children’s lived experience.
The fruit of all this pondering and imagining is Rise: A Child’s Guide to Eastertide.
On Easter morning, a child revels in the colors and sounds of celebration. The church is bright with flowers and all the songs are full of hallelujahs. But as she repeats the joyful words, Christ is Risen, secretly she wonders, “What does Easter have to do with me?”
Rise: A Child’s Guide to Eastertide follows a child through the fifty days of Easter, as she shares in family and community celebrations, hears stories of the Risen Jesus, notices how the world around her is coming alive again, and ponders how growth and new beginnings are part of her own life.
Out of this wondering comes a new way of seeing. Easter is not just about what happened to Jesus long ago. It is about change and transformation here and now. When we let go of things—even our own mistakes; when we look for Jesus and find him in new places; when we fall and get up again; when we share a feast; when we love—that is Easter.
You can read more here. Rise is published by Paraclete Press–the most recent volume in what is now a series called Circle of Wonder. It is illustrated by Giuliano Ferri, whose work I have admired for years. I am honoured that he has brought such warmth and elegance to both biblical and contemporary scenes in Rise.
Please Note: Rise will be available in January 2025, but you can pre-order the book now. If you have the other books in the series and feel sure you want to add this one to your collection, please consider ordering in advance. It really helps give the book a good start.
Laura Alary 