Book Evaluation

Alyssa Bearse

Melissa Santos

English 102

12 February 2018

Book Evaluation

Reading the book, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer was full of lessons and guidance. Based on Kimmerer, who shares her life experiences as a botanist, biology teacher, member of the Potawatomi Nation, and a mother as she discusses her views of plants and animals in a complex way. By referring to them as “he” or “she,” and how they should be recognized as beyond objects. Kimmerer explains how you can learn from plants and animals and to recognize how they can teach you new ideas.

            Overall, reading the book brought me a sense of new concepts and learning a broader sense of common topics. For example, when she talks about the Windigo and says, ““The very word, Windigo, according to Ojibwe scholar Basil Johnson, can be derived from roots meaning “fat excess” or “thinking only of oneself””(Page 306.) When talking about this is a more general concept its referring to the fact that most humans have and use unnecessary products and objects. By living without Windigo, she is living minimal and with only food that can be grown or created naturally. Discovering that you can use nature to survive and depend on, shows a different side of living life than I (and probably most people) are aware of.  

            In another review I found by Elizabeth Wilkinson, she states in her evaluation, “The gift of Kimmerer’s book is that she provides readers the ability to see a very common world in uncommon ways, or, rather, in ways that have been commonly held but have recently been largely discarded.” This is something I also discovered while reading this book and when Kimmerer talks about these new ideas, it opens your eyes about new ideas and how to interpret different situations differently. This book will enlighten you on how to see the world in a better way and use the tools around us in a smart way. I would recommend this book from starting at college students to any age after that.

I feel as if this book takes college level comprehension and also the maturity level to understand the book. This also would be crucial towards liking or disliking the book because the topics enlighten you on different ways to view and interpret these ideas. Overall this book was very eye opening and enlightening and I would suggest this book.

Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding sweetgrass: indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013.

Wilkinson, Elizabeth. “REVIEW: ‘Braiding Sweetgrass,’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer.” Star Tribune, 31 Oct. 2013.