Welcome to Litsy!

A luminous and moving tribute to a father, a newborn daughter, a marriage, and the natural world, For Small Creatures Such as We hunts for the meaning behind our most beloved celebrations and envisions how we can grow these roots into new, fulfilling rituals that will deepen and enrich secular lives. Sasha Sagan was raised by secular parents, the astronomer Carl Sagan and the writer and producer Ann Druyan. They taught her that the natural world and the vast cosmos were full of profound beauty, and that science revealed truths more wondrous than any myth or fable. They taught her being alive is worthy of celebration. Across the globe the number of atheists, agnostics, and spiritual seekers is on the rise, and many will ask: How do I explain this world to my children? When Sasha became a mother, she reconnected not only with the wisdom of her father, but also with the powerful messages she saw at the heart of religious observances. Drawing on both Jewish and Christian backgrounds, she and her husband became determined to create new, secular rituals that would instill both joy and wonder in their daughter. Part memoir, part guidebook, and part social history, For Small Creatures Such as We explores all the marvels of life on Earth that require no faith in order to be believed, and offers ideas for how we might enrich our lives with new celebrations. Revealing the hidden grains of astronomical and biological fact in rituals new and ancient, Sagan takes readers on a beautiful journey around our globe, through the centuries, and into the daily life of a loving, modern, secular family.