A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Great Lakes Region

The complete guide to wildcrafting and foraging, A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Great Lakes Region by Philippa Joly with Danielle Hagel will help children, parents and educators gain a greater respect for the plants in our communities.

This non fiction compendium is filled to the brim with fascinating facts, exhilarating activities and delicious recipes for readers in the Great Lakes region, located around the five Great Lakes: Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Readers learn in depth knowledge, sorted by season, of the plants in this area and their uses as food, medicine and craft supplies.

I love how Philippa Joly is very intentional in her writing in this book. She very clearly respects the original peoples of this land and reminds readers everywhere she can that wildcrafting, gathering plants with care, should be done with respect and awareness and a leave no trace mindset. She sets aside a section at the beginning of the book to acknowledge the people who have been on the land since time immemorial and who continue to protect these lands and the impacts of colonization.

With the background in hand, the main part of the book is where we find the plant profiles, organized by season so that readers can be sure what they are looking at and for depending on the time of the year. Taking us from spring to winter, Philippa Joly describes all of the most common plants in the Great Lakes area and how they can be used, being very explicit about the ones that can be harmful as well. With each plant profile comes an activity: a recipe, a craft, a scavenger hunt, a quiet moment of reflection. This guide will make an excellent addition to an outdoor education program.

All illustrations and photos for the book are also credited to Philippa Joly and it is clear the love and passion she has for the subject as the book is filled with pure natural joy.