Bud Finds Her Gifts
Written by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Illustrated by Naoko Stoop
Authors Unbound Agency ©️ September 2025

We have been inspired by the children and grandchildren of our Members here at Shamans Directory, to post a monthly offering by and for young people! While our team of up-and-coming contributors is preparing their offerings, we will begin by sharing some of our favorite finds.

This month, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass comes a beautiful and lushly illustrated tale celebrating gratitude, reciprocity, and finding our place in the natural world, ideal for sharing with the youngest readers.

When young Bud sees people bustling around, intent on their chores and their screens, she is certain they must be doing important things, and she wants to be included. But wise Nokomis, her grandmother, shows her that there is a different way to find belonging, one that relies on stillness and observing the natural world. As Bud discovers the freely given gifts of the Earth, she wonders if she has something important to give back: What is her gift?

Infused with warmth, humor, and insight, and beautifully illustrated by Naoko Stoop, the first picture book by renowned author and Indigenous ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer inspires readers to treasure nature’s generosity and the gifts each one of us can share with the Earth.

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