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Book Summary and Reviews of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass

Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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  • Aug 2015, 408 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. She brings these frameworks of understanding together in original ways, taking "us on a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise" (Elizabeth Gilbert).

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass―offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"A mesmerizing storyteller." - Publishers Weekly

"Beautifully written…. Anyone who enjoys reading about natural history, botany, protecting nature, or Native American culture will love this book." - Library Journal

"Her book of wisdom, knowledge and teachings celebrates life that is both ordinary...and magical." - Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Robin Wall Kimmerer is writer of rare grace." - Elizabeth Gilbert, author of The Signature of All Things

"An extraordinary book." - Jane Goodall

"A great writing and beautiful work."- Oren Lyons, Onodaga Nation Faithkeeper

This information about Braiding Sweetgrass was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Gabi

The Natural World Revisited
What an amazing and beautifully written book. I read a chapter, each an essay, a day and then reflected on it…savoring the messages. Braiding Sweetgrass, as the title implies, spoke to my mind, body, and soul. A melding of science and the learning passed down through generations of Native Americans, this book is a unique and refreshing glimpse at the natural world, the gifts from Mother Earth. Respect, gratitude and reciprocity “for all that we have been given, for all that we have taken” from Mother Earth are themes central to each of the essays. The book is a moving call to action to reframe how we think of the natural world and how we weigh the choices we make with regards to our planet.

As someone else mentioned, this book should be required reading in all natural science classes. I was thrilled to read that a Youth Reader edition of this wonderful book will be available in 2022.

For audiobook lovers, Braiding Sweetgrass is narrated by Robin Wall Kimmerer herself. She brings the words to life as only someone who feels them with her heart could.

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Author Information

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, a scientist, a decorated professor, and an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her first book, Gathering Moss was awarded the 2005 John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. Her writings have appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and Stone Canoe amongst many others. She lives in Fabius, NY where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and where she is also the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.

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