The Encyclopedia of Rootical Folklore: Plant Tales from Africa and the Diaspora

by Natty Mark Samuels

Genres: Folklore

336 pages, Hardcover

Published May 8, 2024

Reviews

[Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel quite lucky to have found this book - thanks to Small Friends Records & Books in Richmond VA! Each entry in Samuel's encyclopedia contains multitudes of botanical knowledge - which trees provide the best lumber for making furniture, the medicinal properties of herbs and how they best grow, the religious importance of certain flowers and which deities they are associated with, the traditional culinary uses of certain fruits. The scope of information about the plants discussed is wide while remaining digestable. Each description being 1-2 pages makes it easy to return to and reference, whether for inspiration when cooking with pawpaws or to read about the religious signicance of a flower I saw on a walk.

The great part is, that's only one half of the book. Samuels pairs each informative section with a piece of traditional folk story telling. Poems, songs, chants and myths add a special flair to each entry, and I loved all of them. Several entries include the author's account of listening to the oral story teller Jah Folk. These sections were especially fun, and an important memorialization of a fading art.

My favorite non-fiction read of 2024,. Pick it up and turn to a random page, I guarentee you'll find something interesting.

[Cody Rukasin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a beautiful thread interwoven and interlayered over many different plants, foods, and other things found rooting themselves in the ground. Each item is presented by a historical tenet and prosaic interlude that digs at so much more than at first read. The resulting spoils are much more pertinent and potent than gold, and certainly more viable towards understanding the land many of us take for granted in this post-colonial world. Rootical Folklore is a fantastic instructor to its reader - as the book ruminates on the pre-colonial and / or colonial origins of lemons, vanilla, pumpkins, etc. without ever losing its voice as a powerful and gentle guide. This book might be the closest you can get to reading the tending of a garden (garden tending guidebooks notwithstanding ).

Note: I received an advanced copy from Scorched Earth Press. Thank you again!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC from Scorched Earth Press, and I'm obsessed. Exquisitely detailed and poetic.