Mnoomin maan’gowing/The Gift of Mnoomin

A narrative non-fiction story about Mnoomin, rice, and interconnectedness, Mnoomin maan’gowing/The Gift of Mnoomin by Brittany Luby, Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley and Mary Ann Corbiere; a bilingual story that is a love letter to community.

A child gets ready to join their family to harvest mnoomin and as they do, share with readers the lifecycle of the tiny seed that nourishes, protects and is helped in it’s growing journey by all of the living creatures in the ecosystem.

This may be a story about rice, but it is much more complex. As Brittany Luby shares at the very start of the story. “A seed is a story you can hold in your hand.” Young readers not only learn about a staple in the diet of the Anishnaabe but also learn how we are all connected on this planet and how all living things in an ecosystem work as a team to ensure the whole system’s survival. From the seed planted with love and care to the mayfly, pike, muskrat, moose, heron, duck, larvae, bat and finally the people benefit from this one tiny seed. Readers also learn the ways in which we can ethically harvest the mnoomin to ensure the strength of the seeds and the plants for all creatures.

This is the second story that Brittany Luby and Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley have teamed up on together and it is clear through the writing and the illustrations they are a dream team. It’s also a story that will ensure the longevity of Anishnaabemowin, the language throughout Anishnaabe Aki. Since Indigenous languages continue to experience the effects of the residential school system, bilingual stories like this one ensure that young readers have access to their language to relearn and share through out their communities.

Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley’s woodland style illustrations are magestic and eye catching.  They truly bring into focus all of the ideals from the story: interconnectedness, community care, thriving ecosystems and the ways of the Anishnaabeg.