Mnoomin maan’gowing / The Gift of Mnoomin

In this bilingual Ojibwe-English picture book, a young Anishinaabe narrator prepares to sow wild rice, or mnoomin. The child observes the marsh ecosystem where it grows, including mayflies, pike, eagles, muskrats, moose, herons, and bats. When it is time to harvest, the family offers tobacco, gathers rice in a canoe, and leaves stalks that do not release their seeds easily. Some rice is saved for sowing; the rest is dried, processed, winnowed, and cooked.