Braiding Sweetgrass

This book is an instant classic. It took me years to finish reading it because I did not want it to end.

Kimmerer’s writing appealed to the dreamer in me while also explaining the science of the natural world in ways that were unforgettable. This beautifully written book connected me to my physical home and the people around me. I will come back to it again and again. 

I love how Kimmerer braids botany with her personal history and the traditional knowledge of the Potawatomi people.

Part memoir, part natural history, this book reveals how much we can learn from plants if we just take the time to pay attention. In so many ways, science is just that: paying attention, attuning to the world around us we too often mindlessly pass through.

This book caused me to slow down and see nature unfolding around me and to reflect on my own journey from an inquisitive Boy Scout entranced by salamanders and crawdads to a busy adult, oblivious to… show more.

I loved diving deeply into my personal connection with Mother Earth.

Robin Wall Kimmerer brings a knowledgeable and spiritual connection that has left me appreciating the native sweetgrass and flora in my yard as something deeper and more profound than their ecological definition. Forever now will I see sweetgrass as the hair of Mother Earth.

Braiding Sweetgrass is a poetic invitation to reconnect with the more-than-human world through a series of lovingly crafted essays.

Given my own scientific background, I deeply appreciated how the author, Robin Wall Kimmerer, blends her own research as a bryologist (moss expert) with the ancient wisdom of her indigenous heritage. Both ways of knowing – science and indigenous understanding – offer insight into how we, as average people, might repair our broken relationship with the natural world.

I always recommend readers listen to the audiobook, read by the author; she has the most calming voice and I find myself soothed… show more.

This book made me contemplate conservation in ways of thought that pre-date America. The Apache root word for "land" is the same as for "mind." Botanist Kimmerer is enrolled Potawatomi, a proud citizen of the Maple Nation (the native range in the U.S. and Canada of the sugar maple tree), and an heir to "the oldest living democracy on the planet," the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

She weaves together contemporary science and timeless traditions and crafted a modern classic in ecological restoration.

In a world where we are spending almost 8 hours a day in front of a glowing screen, Kimmerer shows us how other living beings can teach us how to connect more deeply to the natural world around us. She draws on Indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge to help us recognize that nature is an integral part of our family, and our community, not merely a collection of objects to be used for our own personal use.

Only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth and learn… show more.

Science, in the hands of accomplished author Kimmerer, is both passion and awe. It is a blending of fact and sensation into a tapestry that invites us to journey through new fields, past distant horizons, and amongst an environment previously unseen.

She celebrates nature as an integral part of the human experience and masterfully draws readers into a world that is equally mystical and inviting.

This is a nature writer at her peak, a keen observer and dynamic chronicler of natural history who expertly guides us into new worlds and vast possibilities. If you love nature, you will most certainly… show more.

This is a wonderful memoir of Native American wisdom and the roots of botanical knowledge, written with a scientist’s eye and heartfelt prose. I read it while researching my third book. 

Braiding Sweetgrass offers indigenous lore and beliefs and encourages us to respect plants and wildlife as living beings and our spiritual friends.

This is especially important with climate change, as many native species become extinct. Everyone should read this book on Native American ways to respect and care for Mother Earth.

Braiding Sweetgrass was important to me as a writer of children’s environmental nonfiction because environmental news is often depressing. I work hard to add hope to my stories to empower young readers to feel grateful for nature’s gifts and to care about protecting them.

Braiding Sweetgrass felt like going to a well and being replenished. I felt simultaneously inspired and validated. I will reread this book frequently.

The author of this amazing, eye-opening, and heart-warming book, Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, is the role model I wish I had when I was young.

She is the kindest soul, the mother of two accomplished and loving daughters, a member of the Potawatomi Nation with deep roots in the traditions of her people and their Native neighbors, a professor of plant science, a gardener, and a knowledgeable and compassionate commenter on the human condition.

There is an old Jewish tradition according to which the world owes its continued existence to 36 tzadikim nistarim, hidden righteous people, who may themselves… show more.