THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR

A thorough, accessible, yearlong walk through the seasons.

Speaking to her readers in a wise whisper, Cook proclaims that there’s real magic in this world—it’s all around us, and kids have a special knack for seeing it. She sets out to help readers “find and recognize magic,” starting with Ostara, the spring equinox, and rolling through the wheel of the year to Imbolc, a cross-quarter fire festival halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The book carefully and meaningfully lays out the rhythms of the wheel, describing festivities like the Scandinavian Midsommar or Juhannus celebrations for summer solstice and Latin American Día de los Muertos remembrances. It provides suggestions for individual nature-based spiritual practices and activities, including crafts and scavenger hunts that involve multiple senses. The book includes recipes using herbs, berries, and fungi (along with safety information for the kitchen and foraging) and guidance for refreshing your altar to welcome the energy of the incoming season. It also references non-Western cultural practices and explains cultural appropriation, giving readers context about the sacred Native American practice of smudging, and it suggests gathering herbs other than sage to bundle and burn. Cook’s obvious wealth of knowledge and care in explaining both the light and dark of the world around us is complemented perfectly by Roux’s charming, delicate illustrations of natural objects, critters both cute and crawly, and racially diverse young people. This book is, in a word, immaculate.

A graceful invitation that children will happily accept.