Laura Alary

Writing stories that make us bigger on the inside

You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys

Review of The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything: Canadian Review of Materials

March 28, 2023

As women’s history month draws to a close, I want to share one last review of The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything.

This one was written by Dr. Gregory Bryan, children’s literature professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba. It published in the Canadian Review of Materials in May 2022, but I only discovered it yesterday.

One comment is particularly satisfying:

“Alary’s rich vocabulary reflects respect for young readers and their ability to work with precise but challenging words. Mitchell’s reaction to restrictions placed on women are to think of them as ‘absurd,’ ‘ridiculous,’ and ‘preposterous.’ Alary tells readers the scientific instruments she learned to use while still young include a sextant, metronome, and chronometer. Young readers and listeners will learn about Mitchell, but they will also have a vocabulary-expanding experience while they do so.”

I always try to communicate clearly and in a way that children will understand. But I also want to stretch readers a bit.

Last week I did a classroom visit and read The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything to a group of grade three and four students. Maria Mitchell famously disliked fine needlework and I included that fact in the book. When I came to the phrase (derived from her own writing), “all those tiny stitches…chained her mind to a needle” a student blurted out, “What does THAT mean?” I paused, thought for a moment, then asked him if he knew the expression, “let your mind wander.” He nodded. “What happens,” I asked him, “if you have to keep your mind really focused on a single task—like making tiny stitches with a needle and thread?” I could see him pondering this, then comprehension dawned. “You can’t think about whatever you want!” he exclaimed. “Your thoughts aren’t free!”

Confronted by a metaphor that was a bit beyond him—a bit puzzling—he reasoned from the familiar to the unfamiliar and had the satisfaction of figuring out something new.

That’s how we grow. I think Maria would have approved.

Sun in My Tummy in CanLit for Little Canadians

January 10, 2023

I try to keep on top of reviews of my books. I also try to keep on top of other Canadian books being published–and Helen Kubiw’s CanLit for Little Canadians blog is one of the best ways to do that.

However, somehow I completely missed this review when it came out in May. I found it today and decided to share to here because it is so thoughtful and thorough in its description of what I sought to do in this book. For example:

“Too many children and adults have a disconnect between what they eat and where it came from. They either don’t know about milk cows and grains and fruit and how they are raised or cultivated or harvested or cannot see the connection between farms and how the food gets into the stores from which we often buy. By associating the sun of our environment with the warmth in our belly from hearty food, Laura Alary relates science concepts like photosynthesis, energy and life cycles with the familiar events like waking in the morning, having breakfast, and growing. Connecting the familiar with the unfamiliar is always an important means to forge learning.”

You can read the full review here.

Here: The Dot We Call Home

Spirituality & Practice Best Spiritual Books of 2022 – Award Winner

When a child finds clues that others have lived in her house before her, she begins to wonder about them, and about those who will come after her. The more she wonders, the more her sense of home expands, stretching to include an entire planet.

With her thoughtful approach and her unique ability to make big concepts engaging and personal to children, Laura Alary invites readers along for the ride, zooming through time and space to the outer reaches of our solar system for a new perspective on the planet we share. The child marvels: How can something so big seem so small? But also: How can something so small seem so big? Overwhelmed by the mess that humans have left behind, in the end she realizes that there is only one thing to do: start where she is.

In spare and simple words, Here: The Dot We Call Home helps children begin to think of themselves as both descendants and ancestors, and to comprehend that people of every place and time share one home, and the task of looking after it.

Order from Paraclete Press or Amazon or your favourite local bookseller.

A discussion guide is available as a free download from Paraclete Press.

Reviews:

“This is a book I wish every child everywhere could have read to them when they’re young, then read to themselves when they’re older, and then read to their children when they’re much older. The book your child, grandchild, or student needs is HERE!” —Brian D. McLaren, author of Corey and the Seventh Story

“In Here: The Dot We Call Home, Laura Alary reminds us that home is the daily spaces we inhabit, the history we are a part of, and the universe that holds us. In this book, she beautifully weaves humanity into relationship with the creatures around us and the Earth herself, reminding us that while we can’t fix all the problems we encounter, we can be present to the life we’ve been given. That is enough. I’m so grateful for this book and what it will teach kids and adults alike about how to practice kinship and belonging.” —Kaitlin Curtice, award-winning author of Native

“Laura Alary’s The Dot We Call Home, teaches children to be co-sustainers in a real place, right where they are. What could be more important, loving, or more human than that?” —Randy Woodley, author of Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth

“Alary’s book draws us into the intimacy of our immediate home and then expands us out into ever widening circles to our biggest home—deep time and deep space. What a terrific message for children to learn…and feel!” —Jennifer Morgan, President of Deeptime Network

“Creation care starts at home as Laura Alary shows in this beautiful, delightful, and heartwarming book.” —Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Professor of Theology and author of Invisible

“Amidst climate catastrophe, how do we lovingly prepare kids for all that is to come? Perhaps the first step is to invite children to fall intimately in love with the place that nourishes their bodies. And to remember that we are part of a story that has gone on before us and will continue after we are gone. Laura Alary invites us into this beautiful work through the eyes of one child offering joy, memory, and imagination about our place on this planet.” —Lydia Wylie-Kellerman, editor of The Sandbox Revolution: Raising Kids for a Just World

“A perfect book for anyone who cares about the Earth and children! Laura Alary offers a vision of hope at a time when many kids feel powerless. With lyrical writing and beautiful pictures, The Dot We Call Home invites people to find love and possibility.” —Amelia Richardson Dress, author of The Hopeful Family: Raising Resilient Children in Uncertain Times

“How can a young child come to understand their place between the microcosm of quarks and the macrocosm of vast space? How can they begin knitting together the complex relationships between the present moment, their ancestors’ lives, and future generations? These are enormous questions, and Laura Alary — who has a background in theology and biblical studies — does not hesitate to approach them. She offers clarity and gentleness suited to five-to-ten years olds’ sensitivity about where they belong in the grand scheme of things.” —Patricia Campbell Carlson, Spirituality and Practice (Read the full review here)

Breathe: A Child’s Guide to Ascension, Pentecost, and the Growing Time

— 2 Comments

At the heart of Breathe lies a puzzle: How can Jesus go away, yet promise to be with us always? Can we trust someone who comes and goes so mysteriously?

In the style of Make Room: A Child’s Guide to Lent and Easter and Look! A Child’s Guide to Advent and Christmas, Breathe: A Child’s Guide to Ascension, Pentecost and the Growing Time explores the comings and goings of Jesus and the Spirit through retellings of the biblical stories of Ascension and Pentecost, interwoven with contemporary reflections from the point of view of a child.

Moving beyond long ago and far away events, Breathe guides children to wonder about and watch for the presence and work of the Spirit here and now, in practices of prayer and mindfulness, and through acts of justice, generosity, and the sweet taste of kindness.

In the end, the young narrator arrives as a satisfactory solution to the puzzle: the Spirit that was in Jesus is in us too. We are his body now, his way of being in the world. Whenever we choose the way of love, Jesus is there. Always.

Order your copy from Paraclete Press.

A downloadable activity guide is also available through Paraclete Press.