Mnoomin maan'gowing

Mnoomin maan'gowing

Brittany Luby

Book - 2023

"In this bilingual book, an Anishinaabe child explores the story of a precious mnoomin seed and the circle of life mnoomin sustains. Written in Anishinaabemowin and English, the story opens at harvest time. A child holds a mnoomin seed and imagines all the life that made a single seed possible--Mayfly, Pike, Muskrat, Eagle and Moose, all had a part to play in bringing the seed into being. What will happen if the seed sprouts? Underwater leaves will shelter young fish, shoots will protect ducklings, stalks will feed larvae, in turn providing food for bats...until finally mnoomin will be ready to harvest again. We follow the child and family through a harvest day as they make offerings of tobacco, then gently knock ripe seeds into their ...canoe. On shore, they prepare the seeds, cook up a feast, and gratefully plant some seeds they'd set aside. This beautifully written and illustrated story reveals the cultural and ecological importance of mnoomin. As the author's note explains, many Anishinaabeg agree that "wild rice" is an inaccurate term for this plant relation, since part of the harvest is sown every year to help sustain human and non-human beings. Includes a translator's note."--

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Location Call Number   Status
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Subjects
Wild rice > Juvenile fiction.
Indigenous peoples > Juvenile fiction.
Children's stories, Ojibwa.
JUVENILE FICTION / Cooking & Food.
Wild rice.
Picture books for children.
Picture books.
Fiction.
Juvenile works.
Genres
Picture books for children
Picture books
Fiction
Juvenile works
Published
Toronto ; Berkeley : Groundwood Books 2023.
Language
English
Ojibwa
Main Author
Brittany Luby (author, -)
Other Authors
Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (illustrator), Mary Ann Corbiere (translator)
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 23 cm
Issued also in electronic formats
ISBN
9781773068466
Contents unavailable.
Review by Horn Book Review

A lyrical text written in Anishinaabemowin and English tells about the journey of a seed and of an ecosystem. "A seed is a story you can hold in your hand." The mnoomin seed travels first in the waterways, where it remembers Mayfly, who fed Pike, "who in turn nourished the earth below"; Eagle, who makes sure Muskrat does not eat "more than the field could bear"; and Moose, who "uproots crowding plants" by walking through the water. When the seeds sprout in the water, their leaves provide hiding places for small fish and protection for Duck and her ducklings on shore. Luby's reverent text then describes the traditional method of harvesting what grows. The winnowed grains are danced upon, washed, roasted, and eaten. Some are stored, and some sown for future harvest. Pawis-Steckley's vibrant color palette captures the hues of sunlight throughout the story as well as the lush flora and fauna and the warmth of the human interactions. Notes about the balance of the ecosystem and about the book's use of language are appended. Naomi R. CaldwellNovember/December 2023 p.61 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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