Braiding Sweetgrass book evaluation

Gina Whiffen

Professor Santos

            Book Evaluation

10 September 2017

Braiding Sweetgrass Book Evaluation

            Before entering this English course, I did not think much about nature and all it provided. The first book we started was called Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Although I did not enjoy reading this book it gave lots of insight on nature that I did not think about till after reading the book. Throughout the book we are taken through Kimmerer’s life as a Potawatomi woman and her life as a professor teaching all her students about what it was like and how she lived. Reading this book her teachings were often not understood by her students.

 She did not give up on her teachings however. In one of her teachings she made some of her students go outside and draw the three sisters of nature; corn, squash, and beans. At first reading this book I, like her students, did not understand most of her teachings. After reading through almost the whole book, however, I have grown an understanding of her culture’s way of life and will try to take some of those ideals and make them my own. I wish that the book was a little more interesting to read. In another evaluation I found the writer Elizabeth Wilkinson enjoyed the book and all the teachings that Kimmerer had to offer.

Overall the book was not completely terrible and I did learn a lot about nature that I did not already know so that was pretty cool. At the end of the day I guess a book that teaches me something is better than a book just for entertainment so therefore I would recommend reading this book because of all of the great information it does give. Just because I did not totally enjoy reading the book that does not mean that someone else will.

Works Cited

Wilkinson, Elizabeth. “REVIEW: 'Braiding Sweetgrass,' by Robin Wall Kimmerer.” Star Tribune, www.startribune.com/review-braiding-sweetgrass-by-robin-wall-kimmerer/230117911/.