This brand new book is a delightful and fresh look at our relationship with nature and with ourselves. It explores the idea of a gift economy, rather that the dominant scarcity economy of American society. Kimmerer is the author of the provocative and groundbreaking Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants. She explores ethnobotany and the human condition from both the viewpoints of her native American heritage and her professorship in environmental and forest biology at the State University of New York. We are in a crisis of a lack of respect for the Earth as a spiritual being, and she urges us to go beyond just consuming. Instead, be thinking of ourselves as being grateful, to be givers and in that practice, receive abundance. She speaks of seeking a culture of reciprocity and gratitude, and to be gift givers of both cultural and ecological value, rather than consumers of material goods. Giving on a small scale builds community, and a culture of a purpose-driven life, and being grateful. I found her message to be one of deep hope, of building respect for ourselves, each other, our community and the natural world, of which we are a vital part. We should practice practical relevance. It is a book that refreshed me and gave me excitement and a fresh approach to our community life. “The prosperity of the community grows from the flow of relationship, not from the accumulation of goods.” “I want to live in a society where the currency of exchange is gratitude and the infinitely renewable resource of kindness, which multiplies every time it is shared rather than depreciating with use.”

I will definitely be sharing this book widely and donating it to little free libraries. What a gift to us, the readers. Thank you, Robin Wall Kimmerer.

We LOVE the writing and books of Robin Wall Kimmerer! Although Serviceberry just arrived, we deeply trust this wise and wondrous writer to pen another beautiful book after cherishing Braiding Sweetgrass twice and savoring Gathering Moss plus writing a local column about reverence which this author renews in me with her magnificent books. Robin, thank you for being you and for writing beautiful ways to connect the earth and her treasures given to us as gifts to protect. May humans evolve to care for all we're given.

Anxious to get started with this book. Loved Braiding Sweetgrass so looking forward to another beautiful insight into Mother Earth!

Thank you, Robin Wall Kimmerer, for the perfect "meditation" on gifting and the natural world. I am buying several to give as holiday gifts. The illustrations are delightful, the prose is transporting, and even the cover feels just right in my hand.

As with Robin Wall Kimmer's book Braiding Sweetgrass, The Serviceberry is a call to action-a more urgent call! It speaks of our survival. We must honor the earth and each other by adopting a new economy that gives and receives through gifts, connection, and love. This supports life, our longevity, and survival as a species bound to this earth. I love all of Kimmer's books as they are full of wisdom. This book is no exception. This book could inspire the die-hard supporter of capitalist market economies if they are willing to see the big picture and contemplate a service economy and its benefits for all living beings.

I loved Braiding Sweetgrass and so looked forward to this short but brilliantly written description of how an economy of reciprocity might look. By using the humble Serviceberry to illustrate her points, Kimmerer has made an otherwise dry subject come alive.

This book could not have come out at a better time. So many of us are trying to find our anchors for the coming storm, and along comes Kimmerer reminding us that we can build roots and community in small neighborhoods and groups, investing resources and building local economies of sharing and caring.

Lots of information and does make you think about what gifting is and how it affects life. It would be better understood if you had knowledge in this area

This is not a commentary on Robin Wall Kilmer or the contents of this book. I bought this book as present for my wife who loves Ms Kimmerer's works. We were sadly disappointed to see that there is a serious mistake in the printing of this book. As you can see form the photos, the book has been misbound or misprinted and after page 22, the book jumps to page 54 which is upside down. Hopefully someone at Scribner will see this and recall the misprinted copies. A big disappointment for my wife who was so looking forward to reading this book.