Around the Circle: Celebrating the Church Year

This picture book path through the liturgical year introduces kids to the seasons of the Christian calendar.

Around the Circle invites young children to journey through the seasons of the church year. Season by season, rich colors and meaningful symbols help young readers get to know these special times: how they connect to the story of Jesus, and to their own lives. With simple, rhythmic text and lush, mixed-media illustrations, this picture book depicts the circle of the liturgical year as a path full of discovery and wonder. There is space for different emotions, including sadness, but the story bends toward hope and new beginnings, reassuring children that they are loved and welcomed. In the circle of the church year, and in the circle of belonging formed by those who follow this sacred path, there is room for all.

From Advent to Christmas, Epiphany to Lent, Easter to Pentecost, and then around again, the liturgical year sets the rhythm for the life of a church community. Around the Circle is a wonderful resource for church ministry leaders, intergenerational worshipping communities, and families who want to introduce their children to the multisensory experience of the cycle of the church year.

Laura Alary is a storyteller, educator, mother of three, and picture book author. Her book All the Faces of Me was named a 2024 Charlotte Zolotow Award Honor Book. She is also the author of Make Room: A Child's Guide to Lent and Easter and The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything, among many others. Laura lives with her family in Toronto, where she likes to walk by the lake and wonder about the world.

Claire Westwood is an illustrator from West Sussex with a postgraduate degree in children's illustration from London Art College. Her work is created from paintings using household and enamel paints and digital mediums. Westwood's illustrations incorporate nature, usually floral or animals, using color and light to evoke an ethereal feeling.