Here: The Dot We Call Home

By Laura Alary and Cathrin Peterslund

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:  

• An engaging story about one curious and thoughtful child 

• An imaginative way to enlarge a child’s perspective on our homes and neighborhoods, and how we’re all connected 

• A great conversation-starter about the environment and our responsibility to protect it 

• Filled with enchanting and whimsical illustrations that encourage a child’s natural sense of wonder 

• 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. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paraclete Press
• Release date: Sep 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781640607491

Laura Alary

Laura Alary is a writer, storyteller, and religious educator. When she was a little girl she used to make her own books out of manila paper, crayons, and mucilage. These early efforts at writing eventually gave way to academic papers and theses, as she earned degrees in Classics (B.A., Dalhousie), Theology (M.Div., Knox College, University of Toronto) and New Testament (Ph.D., University of St. Michael’s College). More recently, Laura has focused on a new type of education—raising three creative and curious children. She leads workshops on everything from storytelling to biblical interpretation, teaches the occasional university course, and works with children at a local congregation. She has also returned to her early love of creating her own books, including Is That Story True? and Mira and the Big Story. Laura lives in Toronto, Canada.

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