**Available for Pre-Order - release date September 8, 2026**
A stunning fusion of poetry and particle science that thoughtfully addresses children’s big questions about life and death in a way that will inspire wonder and awe in young readers and adults alike.
Inside a single blade of grass, a drop of shining dew, in gleaming wings of butterflies, in stars, in me, in you, are tiny things called particles that bounce and twist and spin. They dance together for a while then spin apart again.
Dance Together, Spin Apart melds poetry and particle science to carry young readers from the origins of our life through its end and the return of our energy to the universe. With author Molly Housh Gordon’s thoughtful approach to children’s big questions about life and death and illustrator Isabella Grott’s lush and imaginative illustrations, Dance Together, Spin Apart brings subatomic particles and the energy passed between us all beautifully to life.
“A jubilant picture book glorifying the wonder of creation. Exquisite illustrations throughout bring the words to life in a spinning dance of joy and wonder.”
—Patrice Karst, author of The Invisible String series and How Jackson Found His Joy Again
"What a rich concept Molly Housh Gordon has taken on in Dance Together, Spin Apart, and what resonant illustrations by Isabella Grott!”
—Marion Dane Bauer, author of The Stuff of Stars and We, The Curious Ones
“How do you answer children’s big questions of life and death? Dance Together, Spin Apart brings together science and mystery in an exquisitely poetic answer. The illustrations spin and dance as a beautiful complement to this imaginative story.”
—Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, author of In My Own Voice and Miriam and Her Dancing Shoes
“Where were we before? What comes next? For every child with big questions and every grownup who wants to respond honestly, Dance Together, Spin Apart is a gift. A gorgeously illustrated blend of poetry and quantum playfulness, it manages to be both truthful and reassuring, letting children know that change may be constant, but nothing is ever lost.”
—Laura Alary, author of Who Needs the Dark?, Wind, Stop Blowing!, and Mira and the Big Story
“Brilliant in its lyricism and imagery and attuned to the wisdom of children, Dance Together, Spin Apart invites readers into the warm embrace of big questions with ample room to stretch, play, wonder, and delight at the abundance of love everywhere.”
—Melissa A. Butler, author of in a button and How to Notice
“Explaining the death of my second child to his older brother was a wrenching and isolating experience. Where were the stories and beautiful images that could support us? What could we tell him that was both comforting and true? Molly Housh Gordon’s Dance Together, Spin Apart is the book we’ve been waiting for.”
—Rev. Kimberly Wildszewski, senior minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing, Titusville, New Jersey
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