First Blade of Sweetgrass

A Junior Library Guild Selection • An American Library Association Notable Children’s Book 2022 • 2022 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People • 2022-2023 Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award 2022 Bank Street Best Children’s Books • 2022 Maine Literary Award, Children’s

 

In this Own Voices Native American picture book, a modern Wabanaki girl is excited to accompany her grandmother for the first time to harvest sweetgrass for basket making. She must overcome her impatience while learning to distinguish sweetgrass from other salt marsh grasses, but slowly the spirit and peace of her surroundings speak to her, and she gathers sweetgrass as her ancestors have done for centuries, leaving the first blade she sees to grow for future generations. This sweet, authentic story from a Maliseet mother and her Passamaquoddy husband includes backmatter about traditional basket making and a Wabanaki glossary.