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The Wheel of the Year: An Illustrated Guide to Nature's Rhythms
A beautifully illustrated, interactive guide to ancient, nature-based holidays and customs. Through themed meditations, crafts, and rituals, young readers can learn about old and new ways of honoring the seasons—and create their own!
Each “spoke” in The Wheel of the Year marks an important turning point: the winter and summer solstices, the spring and fall equinoxes, and the festivals of seeding, growing, and harvesting that arrive in between. Within each section, enjoy:
An overview of the holiday and its significance in cultures around the world
A sensory scavenger hunt for sights, sounds, and smells the season
Ideas for a seasonal altar using objects from nature
Themed crafts, rituals, games, and recipes
Blending nature connection with art, poetry, and myth, The Wheel of the Year conveys the magic and beauty of ancient traditions and encourages young readers to notice, care for, and celebrate the natural world around them.
Each “spoke” in The Wheel of the Year marks an important turning point: the winter and summer solstices, the spring and fall equinoxes, and the festivals of seeding, growing, and harvesting that arrive in between. Within each section, enjoy:
An overview of the holiday and its significance in cultures around the world
A sensory scavenger hunt for sights, sounds, and smells the season
Ideas for a seasonal altar using objects from nature
Themed crafts, rituals, games, and recipes
Blending nature connection with art, poetry, and myth, The Wheel of the Year conveys the magic and beauty of ancient traditions and encourages young readers to notice, care for, and celebrate the natural world around them.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published October 24, 2023
271 people are currently reading
2622 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews
November 13, 2023
I didn’t realize this was geared toward kids when I bought it but it made me love it all the more.
December 7, 2023
This is a stellar pagan-adjacent book for kids. It's beautiful, gentle, accessible, and informative. A fantastic starting place for kids (and grown-ups!) curious about nature spirituality throughout the year.
May 3, 2024
I think the marketing of this book could have been done a little better to indicate that the book was really meant for children, but with that audience in mind it's quite effective. The reflections are sweet and thoughtful, and there were some quite informative bits about religions around the world. I appreciate that it's considerate of the world as a whole rather than focusing just on pagan traditions. The illustrations were sweet too.
Overall, a fun little read but not immediately obvious that it's for children.
Some quotes:
"Just because something can be explained by science doesn’t mean it’s not also magical."
"Hope keeps us moving in the direction of light, life, and longer days."
"Every culture has its own traditions and rituals, and sometimes as we explore others’ practices, we might want to try them ourselves. It’s important to approach this as if you are a guest in someone’s home."
"Death is not the absence of life; it’s the next turning of the Wheel."
Overall, a fun little read but not immediately obvious that it's for children.
Some quotes:
"Just because something can be explained by science doesn’t mean it’s not also magical."
"Hope keeps us moving in the direction of light, life, and longer days."
"Every culture has its own traditions and rituals, and sometimes as we explore others’ practices, we might want to try them ourselves. It’s important to approach this as if you are a guest in someone’s home."
"Death is not the absence of life; it’s the next turning of the Wheel."
November 20, 2023
2.5/5 stars
I failed to realize that this was more for kids. It was okay; there were some interesting bits of information, but I personally didn't get much apart from that from the book.
I would only recommend this to kids interested in learning about witchcraft and the origins of some of the traditions.
I failed to realize that this was more for kids. It was okay; there were some interesting bits of information, but I personally didn't get much apart from that from the book.
I would only recommend this to kids interested in learning about witchcraft and the origins of some of the traditions.
January 13, 2024
Completely dreamy. Physically, this is a beautiful book with lovely illustrations—I highly recommend reading a hard copy. Geared towards children, but I was inspired by the simple and approachable way the concepts and values of the Pagan holidays were explored. A wonderful primer for anyone interested in connecting with nature in a more structured, ritualistic way.
August 1, 2024
I hadn't realised this book was aimed at children so I was a little disappointed at how simplistic the content was. However, it is beautifully illustrated and very charming, inclusive and approachable. Great for beginners
February 13, 2024
Gorgeous. Simple, inclusive, elegant. This will be a purchase!
January 16, 2024
I also did not know this book was intended for children, but I'm glad it is. I wish I had this book as a child, but I found it very healing to read. I am trying to distance myself from organized religion and find my own sort of holidays in a Christian centric calendar. This book was a beautifully illustrated way to keep time in a non commercialized way. Highly recommend!
December 18, 2025
This children's book gives a nice overview of pagan holidays throughout the year with lots of information about other holidays around the world and some science and nature information along with lots of activities, crafts, rituals, and recipes. As a curious adult it was just what wanted - information in a quick read with lots of pretty pictures.
December 18, 2025
delightful
April 1, 2025
I didn't realize it was for kids when I purchased it - but honestly? Who cares! The illustrations are beautiful, I learned a lot, and I felt good reading it. Love having it out on display.
January 12, 2025
This book is a kind and gentle and sweet primer into magical and spiritual practices tied to the seasons and the pagan calendar. Ostensibly written for children, I found a lot of fun crafts and projects and ideas to bring into my own life.
December 10, 2024
I read this in companionship with Wild Wisdom Companion and it was all so beautiful and amazing. What I really like about this one is that it breaks up the year in all of its seasons, including the solstices, equinox’s, and the seasonal changes in between. It’s been an interesting journey for me working on trying to be more in tune with nature and the changes that happen during the year and the seasons. In our modern age, we’ve forgotten that our primal ancestors relied on nature for their survival, and trying to reach back into those roots has been a beautiful experience. This is a book that I will also keep reading year after year and it’s one I also recommend for any who have a piquing curiosity about how we can reconnect with nature.
December 19, 2025
2025: I can't believe we have already completed *another* wheel of the year! This was our second (and my third) time reading this together, and my kids both asked that we immediately begin it again for 2026. Always a 5 star when it has all 3 of us wanting to read it over and over again.
2024: The kids love it too!
2023: This has everything I've been looking for. And it's absolutely beautiful!
2024: The kids love it too!
2023: This has everything I've been looking for. And it's absolutely beautiful!
August 10, 2024
An absolutely beautiful book about the changing of the seasons!
Not only is this book constructed in such a lovely way (the thickness of the pages and the rich colors are amazing!), but the content itself is fantastic. I love how the book is set up by the natural rhythms of the year—spring and fall equinox, winter and summer solstices, etc.
The illustrations are breathtaking, but also have a cozy look with deep sensitivity (if that makes any sense). Although the writing is geared towards children, I still enjoyed reading every section. There's a sense of magic, awe and inspiration included in every season.
What's included in the book: history, recipes, crafts, observations, animals, sounds, activities and more. I wish I had this book in our home library when my children were young. There's so much to love about it!
Now that I've devoured this book from the library, I need to buy my own copy to keep. I adore seasonal books and this one will be an excellent (and joyful!) addition to my book collection. Highly recommended!
Not only is this book constructed in such a lovely way (the thickness of the pages and the rich colors are amazing!), but the content itself is fantastic. I love how the book is set up by the natural rhythms of the year—spring and fall equinox, winter and summer solstices, etc.
The illustrations are breathtaking, but also have a cozy look with deep sensitivity (if that makes any sense). Although the writing is geared towards children, I still enjoyed reading every section. There's a sense of magic, awe and inspiration included in every season.
What's included in the book: history, recipes, crafts, observations, animals, sounds, activities and more. I wish I had this book in our home library when my children were young. There's so much to love about it!
Now that I've devoured this book from the library, I need to buy my own copy to keep. I adore seasonal books and this one will be an excellent (and joyful!) addition to my book collection. Highly recommended!
April 9, 2025
OBSESSED with this one. It's a kid's book, but besides a few fire safety and cooking warnings, it could totally be for adults. So many good social justice and environmentalism points in here, too. Most of all, the artwork is STUNNING. Beautiful message of magic being in you and in nature, which is also you! I'm probably going to buy a copy of this one to display in my apartment but also to refer back to throughout the year.
June 25, 2024
Light read filled with beautiful pictures and family friendly activities based on the Wheel of the Year. The author doesn't push any particular path and discusses nature's rhythm from a very objective point of view while acknowledging all of the different ways one may celebrate. Even a great read for adults!
January 31, 2025
The illustrations are absolutely stunning. I didn't know beforehand that this was more geared towards a younger audience but I still enjoyed it a lot.
May 2, 2025
Lovely read, even for adults, but geared toward late elementary aged children. Respectful of tradition, a beautiful walk through nature as it changes throughout the year.
May 23, 2025
Absolutely beautiful, words and illustrations! So special to read while pregnant, knowing I’ll share it with my child in just a few years.
January 4, 2024
Inspiring, thorough, and beautifully illustrated resource.
January 6, 2025
Beautiful illustrations and very informative
September 22, 2025
I got this book because the illustrator had also created a deck oracle cards I own, not realizing it was geared towards children. After the initial surprise and adjusting my expectations, I read it anyway, and found it really enjoyable. It makes a point to discuss beliefs and practices of many different cultures, and offers fun little hands-on crafts to help one acknowledge the changing of seasons regardless of beliefs. And of course the illustrations are lovely.
December 30, 2024
Book is beautiful. Inside and out.
October 20, 2025
DNF
I didn't realize this book was geared towards children. Wish that had been made more clear.
I don't understand the need to coddle children as much as this book does. It feels like eating frosting. A whole book of frosting.
I also don't like that it goes on about the vitamin C in rosehips but not how to prepare it safely. It doesn't say you can or can't eat it, but if you are going to make that statement maybe also mention you will have a bad time eating straight rosehips.
I didn't realize this book was geared towards children. Wish that had been made more clear.
I don't understand the need to coddle children as much as this book does. It feels like eating frosting. A whole book of frosting.
I also don't like that it goes on about the vitamin C in rosehips but not how to prepare it safely. It doesn't say you can or can't eat it, but if you are going to make that statement maybe also mention you will have a bad time eating straight rosehips.
June 22, 2023
Hallmark ain't got nuttin' on this.
Seriously, I love learning about, and even better actually celebrating holidays from other cultures. The lunar celebrations of the fall Chinese and Hebrew calendars particularly hit me every year, far more than the solar new year. Add in the foraging elements and some hands-on-science projects (with appropriate instructions and reminders to make use of the appropriate grown-ups for certain parts of the process) and this translates beautifully for families and school classes.
Seriously, I love learning about, and even better actually celebrating holidays from other cultures. The lunar celebrations of the fall Chinese and Hebrew calendars particularly hit me every year, far more than the solar new year. Add in the foraging elements and some hands-on-science projects (with appropriate instructions and reminders to make use of the appropriate grown-ups for certain parts of the process) and this translates beautifully for families and school classes.
May 27, 2024
This book is absolutely wonderful. I am a practicing pagan and got this book for my daughter to help her become more in tune with nature. The way everything is explained in this book is absolutely perfect for getting children involved in nature-based spirituality without specific dogmatism. The activities in it are so wonderful, and my daughter and I have had so much fun following along with the book throughout the year!
January 15, 2024
A nice introduction to the wheel of the year. I enjoyed the ideas within, the beautiful illustrations, and especially the factoids in each section. I definitely recommend this if you’d like a beautiful book on the topic. I didn’t realize this was a book for young readers… not a big deal, but occasionally distracting to read “with the help of your adult..” 😂
December 11, 2023
Fascinating and beautifully written. I forgot I was reading a children's book.
May 3, 2025
Book Review: The Wheel of the Year: An Illustrated Guide to Nature’s Rhythms by Fiona Cook, Illustrated by Jessica Roux (A Feminine Reconnection to Cyclical Time and Earth’s Wisdom)
Fiona Cook’s The Wheel of the Year: An Illustrated Guide to Nature’s Rhythms, with ethereal illustrations by Jessica Roux, is more than a seasonal almanac—it is a lyrical reclamation of nature’s cycles as inherently tied to women’s lived experiences. This visually stunning work bridges folklore, ecology, and feminist spirituality, offering a counterpoint to linear, patriarchal timekeeping by honoring the sacredness of seasonal transitions. Cook’s prose, paired with Roux’s evocative art, invites readers to see the natural world not as a resource to be controlled, but as a teacher, healer, and mirror of the body’s own rhythms.
Themes and Strengths
Cyclical Time as Feminist Praxis: The book frames the eight pagan Sabbats (from Samhain to Mabon) as moments of reflection, renewal, and resistance. Cook emphasizes how agrarian and indigenous traditions—often stewarded by women—view time as a spiral rather than a line. This challenges capitalist productivity myths, suggesting rest, decay, and rebirth as radical acts.
Embodied Connection to Nature: Cook centers the female body’s synchronicity with the earth (menstrual cycles mirroring moon phases, menopause as a “harvest” season). Her descriptions of seasonal rituals—like spring seed blessings or autumn ancestor altars—are practical yet poetic, rejecting New Age appropriation by rooting practices in tangible reciprocity with the land.
Art as Ecological Devotion: Roux’s illustrations elevate the text into a sensory experience. Her delicate yet bold renderings—a frost-veined pomegranate for Yule, a fiery maple leaf for the autumn equinox—visually echo Cook’s thesis: that observing nature’s cycles fosters resilience. The interplay of text and image feels like walking through a living grimoire.
Inclusive Spirituality: While honoring Celtic and Norse traditions, Cook avoids dogmatism, encouraging readers to adapt rituals to their local bioregions. Her references to “grandmother wisdom” and queer interpretations of folklore (e.g., Beltane’s fertility as non-literal creativity) welcome marginalized voices often excluded from nature-based spirituality.
Critique
The book’s strength—its accessibility—sometimes skirts deeper critiques of modern ecofeminism’s blind spots (e.g., racial disparities in land access). A section addressing how urbanization and climate grief disrupt these cycles could have added urgency. Additionally, while Roux’s art mesmerizes, diagrams of seasonal moon phases or plant growth stages might have reinforced Cook’s teachings.
Conclusion
The Wheel of the Year is a beacon for those seeking to dismantle the myth of human separation from nature. Cook and Roux gift readers not just a guide, but a manifesto: that living in harmony with the earth’s rhythms is an act of defiance—and devotion. For feminists, environmentalists, and anyone who has ever felt the ache of disconnection, this book is a compass back to belonging.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.7/5)
A soulful sibling to Braiding Sweetgrass and The Wild Unknown Almanac, with the aesthetic grace of a medieval herbal.
Fiona Cook’s The Wheel of the Year: An Illustrated Guide to Nature’s Rhythms, with ethereal illustrations by Jessica Roux, is more than a seasonal almanac—it is a lyrical reclamation of nature’s cycles as inherently tied to women’s lived experiences. This visually stunning work bridges folklore, ecology, and feminist spirituality, offering a counterpoint to linear, patriarchal timekeeping by honoring the sacredness of seasonal transitions. Cook’s prose, paired with Roux’s evocative art, invites readers to see the natural world not as a resource to be controlled, but as a teacher, healer, and mirror of the body’s own rhythms.
Themes and Strengths
Cyclical Time as Feminist Praxis: The book frames the eight pagan Sabbats (from Samhain to Mabon) as moments of reflection, renewal, and resistance. Cook emphasizes how agrarian and indigenous traditions—often stewarded by women—view time as a spiral rather than a line. This challenges capitalist productivity myths, suggesting rest, decay, and rebirth as radical acts.
Embodied Connection to Nature: Cook centers the female body’s synchronicity with the earth (menstrual cycles mirroring moon phases, menopause as a “harvest” season). Her descriptions of seasonal rituals—like spring seed blessings or autumn ancestor altars—are practical yet poetic, rejecting New Age appropriation by rooting practices in tangible reciprocity with the land.
Art as Ecological Devotion: Roux’s illustrations elevate the text into a sensory experience. Her delicate yet bold renderings—a frost-veined pomegranate for Yule, a fiery maple leaf for the autumn equinox—visually echo Cook’s thesis: that observing nature’s cycles fosters resilience. The interplay of text and image feels like walking through a living grimoire.
Inclusive Spirituality: While honoring Celtic and Norse traditions, Cook avoids dogmatism, encouraging readers to adapt rituals to their local bioregions. Her references to “grandmother wisdom” and queer interpretations of folklore (e.g., Beltane’s fertility as non-literal creativity) welcome marginalized voices often excluded from nature-based spirituality.
Critique
The book’s strength—its accessibility—sometimes skirts deeper critiques of modern ecofeminism’s blind spots (e.g., racial disparities in land access). A section addressing how urbanization and climate grief disrupt these cycles could have added urgency. Additionally, while Roux’s art mesmerizes, diagrams of seasonal moon phases or plant growth stages might have reinforced Cook’s teachings.
Conclusion
The Wheel of the Year is a beacon for those seeking to dismantle the myth of human separation from nature. Cook and Roux gift readers not just a guide, but a manifesto: that living in harmony with the earth’s rhythms is an act of defiance—and devotion. For feminists, environmentalists, and anyone who has ever felt the ache of disconnection, this book is a compass back to belonging.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.7/5)
A soulful sibling to Braiding Sweetgrass and The Wild Unknown Almanac, with the aesthetic grace of a medieval herbal.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews