Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults
by Robin Wall Kimmerer, adapted by Monique Gray Smith, illustrations by Nicole Neidhardt
Deep and joyful kinship with the books of Robin Wall Kimmerer guided writer Monique Gray Smith and illustrator Nicole Neidhardt on a shared path: adapting her best-selling classic, Braiding Sweetgrass—Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, into forms designed to welcome youth into learning from earth’s oldest teachers, the plants around us.
Smith, a person of Cree, Lakota and Scotts heritage, is the award-winning author of eight books for youth and adults. Neidhardt is a Diné (Navajo) artist and cofounder of Groundswell Climate Collective, a group fighting the climate crisis through education and artwork. This is their second collaboration.
I discovered this book through their January 2022 publication preview “kitchen table visit” video that Kimmerer joined as a special guest. I value learning about the process of a favorite creative work. This YouTube conversation delightfully shared how the women immersed themselves in the content and spirit of Braiding Sweetgrass to co-create the gift of this edition.
Author Smith recalls how on the day she found Kimmerer’s book she read the Prologue immediately, then “had to put it down and let what I had just read find its rightful place.” To adapt Braiding Sweetgrass, Smith would listen to Kimmerer read a chapter—“like hearing a beloved elder”—then read the chapter herself, then listen again as she worked in her garden or walked outdoors. “The next day I’d begin to think: what of this chapter can we keep for young readers?”
Calling the adaptation “making cuts” felt disrespectful to Smith, who knew she was working with sacred cultural text. She focused her distilling process by always asking, “What are we saving for young readers (to discover) when they are older and want to read the full manuscript?”
Neidhardt felt responsibility and honor, as the artist selected to illustrate teachings held in common by many indigenous communities. She describes her process being akin to Kimmerer’s kind of writing: “The way I like to think about my illustration practice is that every visual element that makes up every image is a story. With a book so full of so many different stories, it fits for each of my illustrations to be a collection of stories as well.
“They resonate so much with me, as a Navajo person,” Neidhardt says, noting her intention for each illustration to “capture the essence of those teachings and share them in a slightly different way than words do.” Her drawings head each chapter, and her graphic elements frame callout texts. Special pages illustrate the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address, principles of The Honorable Harvest, and the opening section’s telling of Skywoman Falling, the creation story shared by Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee people.
Each chapter also includes Reflection Questions, such as “What is the difference between a Bill of Rights and a Bill of Responsibilities?” and “What does citizenship mean to you?” A Glossary is integrated throughout the text, defining scientific and cultural terms next to paragraphs where they are used. Chapters end with a Call to Action, prompting young readers to engage with ideas they just read, such as “Choose one of the Honorable Harvest principles and focus on weaving it into your life for the next week. Notice how you think, feel and experience the world.”
This Young Adult edition is indexed and includes guidance for classroom use of Braiding Sweetgrass, recommending short readings in the original. A Bibliography supports further study.
Monique Gray Smith’s patient way of taking in and letting be, and Nicole Neidhardt’s loving visual skills, have brought 26 original Braiding Sweetgrass chapters, in their six thematic sections, into clear forms crafted to invite young people to actively engage with this rich work now, and come to it again as they grow, to experience the vivid, complex bounty of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s written gifts.
Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults (2022) is available in hardcover, paperback and as an audiobook from Lerner Publishing Group.
—Written by Jean Ponzi, Green Resources Person
EarthWays Center of Missouri Botanical Garden