Laura Alary has loved books from the time she could barely clamber up the steps to the book mobile that rolled into her Halifax neighbourhood once a week. At school, she made her own books out of manila paper, mucilage, and crayons. The first story she can remember writing was about a little girl who kept spilling paint and trying to figure out how to turn the messes into pictures (a good rule for life).
For many years Laura focused her writing on academic work, earning degrees in Classics and theology, and a PhD in New Testament. Then she turned her attention to raising three creative and curious children. Along the way, Laura served as Christian Education Coordinator at Guildwood Community Presbyterian Church, taught music at a Montessori school, and is now coordinator of the McKay Educational Resource Centre at Caven Library, Knox College, where one of her favourite part of her job is curating a collection of picture books for ministry.
Laura has also come full circle and is once again finding joy in writing her own books, all of which she hopes will invite children to wonder, ask big questions, and be curious about the world. Her books include the church year series Make Room, Look! and Breathe, the award-winning Read, Wonder, Listen: Stories from the Bible for Young Readers, and most recently Sun in My Tummy , The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything, and Here: The Dot We Call Home. She is delighted to have the opportunity to present her latest book, All the Faces of Me.
Toronto Children's Ministry Conference 