At Work in Life's Garden

In this collection well-known writers tell their personal stories about how the wonder, the chaos, and the pain of raising children has led them to engage more deeply with the world, with themselves, and with other people. Essays by Barbara Kingsolver, Barry Lopez, Anne Lamott, and Alexandra Fuller, among others, reveal the ways parenting transforms the parents as well as the children. Some writers are practicing Catholics, Protestants, Jews, or Buddhists, while others claim no particular religious or spiritual affiliation.Sarah Conover lives with her husband and two children in Spokane, Washington, where she teaches English at a public high school. She is the author of three books on world religion including, "Kindness: A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents" and "Ayat Jamilah: Beautiful Signs: A Treasury of Islamic Wisdom for Children and Parents", winner of the 2004 Aesop Prize from the American Folklore Society. Tracey Springberry's essays have appeared in "The Sun", "The Christian Science Monitor" and on Spokane Public Radio. She lives in Cheney, Washington, with her three sons and is studying to be a Unitarian Universalist minister.