Here: The Dot We Call Home is a simple and enchanting book that invites children to see themselves as both descendants and ancestors, and caretakers of our beautiful planet.
This is my home. I live here. But I am not the first…
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.
Here: The Dot We Call Home is:
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An engaging story about one curious and thoughtful child
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An imaginative way to enlarge a child’s perspective on our homes and neighborhoods, and how we’re all connected
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A great conversation-starter about the environment and our responsibility to protect it
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Filled with enchanting and whimsical illustrations that encourage a child’s natural sense of wonder
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Ideal for boys and girls ages 5-10 years old
Add it to the shelf with books like If You Come to Earth by Sophie Blackall and Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers.
| Format: | Paperback book |
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| Product code: | PP7484 |
| Dimensions: | 11" x 8½" |
| Length: | 32 pages |
| Publisher: |
Paraclete Press
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| ISBN: | 9781640607484 |
| 1-2 copies | $15.83 each |
|---|---|
| 3-9 copies | $15.11 each |
| 10-49 copies | $14.39 each |
| 50-99 copies | $14.03 each |
| 100+ copies | $13.49 each |
Praise
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!
"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."
"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?
"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!"
"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."
"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."
Author
Laura Alary is a writer, educator, and storyteller. She has loved books since she was barely big enough to clamber up the steps of the book mobile that rolled into her neighborhood once a week. These days she is happy to be surrounded by books in the library where she works, and she delights in writing stories that make us bigger on the inside. Among her recent books are What Grew in Larry’s Garden, Sun in My Tummy, and The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything. Laura grew up by the ocean in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and also spent many hours exploring the beaches of Prince Edward Island—one of her favorite spots on this dot we call home. She now makes her home in Toronto, where she likes to walk by the lake and think about how she can be a better ancestor.
