Publisher's Note

Author/illustrator Carolyn Olson read from Pearl's Garden at Next Chapter Booksellers.

On a Saturday morning in March, Carolyn Olson read her new MNHS Press book Pearl's Garden to an enthralled young audience at Next Chapter Booksellers in St. Paul. After a successful launch at the Duluth Public Library earlier in the month and a visit to the East Side Food Co-op in Minneapolis, Carolyn has several additional events lined up for the spring and summer, including stops at MNHS sites Mill City Museum and the Oliver Kelley Farm. See our Events listings below for more details. 

Pearl's Garden is a richly illustrated tale of a young person making a positive difference in her neighborhood by starting a community garden. Publishers Weekly raved, "Dynamic folk art and dialogue-filled text tells a story of summer garden success in this bright-eyed book from Olson. . . . Crisp black outlining, stylized figures portrayed with brown skin tones, and a mosaic-like garden of flattened forms combine to produce a portrait of community vibrancy that showcases how gardens can yield both food and fraternity." Get a jump on the growing season by picking up Pearl's Garden today at your favorite bookstore or library.

New Releases

In April we publish two exciting new volumes. Tshuaj Ntsuab (Plant Medicine) is a first of its kind Hmong field guide. Weaving Community pays tribute to the powerful Indigenous women leaders of the second half of the twentieth century whose work has benefited the Twin Cities and beyond. 
 

Tshuaj Ntsuab: A Compendium of Hmong Medicinal Plants

Zongxee Lee, Natalie Hoidal, Alex Crum
Photography by Lindsey Miller 

Blending traditional knowledge and Western science, this collection of family stories, healing recipes, and profiles of plants common in Minnesota celebrates age-old wisdom and cutting-edge research.

During early years in Laos, May Lee trained as a niam tshuaj, a plant-based healer and keeper of herbal plants, a role customarily handed down from mother to eldest daughter. When she fled to Thailand and then the United States in 1980, May brought preserved cuttings, which she eventually cultivated in Minnesota. She passed along her knowledge to daughters Zongxee and Mhonpaj, who likewise became herbalists and farmers.

Among other traditional uses, Hmong medicinal herbs are essential ingredients in a special chicken soup consumed for postpartum healing. In Tshuaj Ntsuab (Plant Medicine), a recipe for this nourishing soup accompanies descriptions of additional cultural practices, herbal remedies, and growing techniques that are part of Hmong oral tradition. Through detailed photographs, botanical information, and scientific research, this compendium profiles forty-four medicinal plants that are important to the culture and diets of Hmong people around the world.

Pub date: 4/14/2026. Book launch: 5/5/2026, 7:00 PM, Magers and Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis

Weaving Community: Indigenous Women and Leadership in the Twin Cities 

Audrey Thayer and Colette A. Hyman

A compelling history of the often overlooked work of contemporary Native American women who took action to strengthen the bonds within and among their urban communities.

From the 1960s through the 1990s in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Native women activists helped build institutions that sustain urban Indigenous communities to this day. Weaving Community pays tribute to figures such as Vernell Wabasha, Winifred Jourdain, Bonnie Wallace, and Laura Waterman Wittstock, leaders in addressing the needs of Native people living in the metropolitan area. Thanks to their combined efforts, the Twin Cities gave rise to noteworthy organizations including the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis, the first off-reservation health care center for Indigenous people; MIGIZI, a nonprofit that supports the educational, economic, and cultural needs of Indigenous youth; and Project STAIRS, which addressed the mistreatment of Native students in public schools and laid the foundation for the University of Minnesota’s American Indian Studies program.

Drawing on oral histories and individual interviews, Audrey Thayer and Colette Hyman share powerful testimonies of urban Native community building. The two dozen Dakota, Anishinaabe, and Ho-Chunk women who tell their stories in Weaving Community display the cultural values of strong female leadership as well as the vital importance of preserving traditions, ceremonies, and languages. At a crucial moment in history, these women persevered so that Indigenous people in the Twin Cities could lead lives of dignity and cultural integrity.

Pub date: 4/28/2026. Book launch: 5/21/2026, 6:00 PM, Next Chapter Booksellers,  St. Paul

Events

Twin Cities Metro

4/18/2026, 10:30 AM, Tanaǧidaŋ To Wiŋ Tara Perron, Holly Young, Our Sacred Land of Phežúta, Minnesota History Center, Community Room, St. Paul 

4/21/2026, 6:00 PM, Tanaǧidaŋ To Wiŋ Tara Perron, Our Sacred Land of Phežúta, Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul

4/23/2026, 6:00 PM, Sarah Peterson, Dish and Tell, Next Chapter Booksellers, St. Paul 

5/2/2026, 10:00 AM, Carolyn Olson, Pearl's Garden, Mill City Museum, Minneapolis

5/5/2026, 7:00 PM, Zongxee Lee, Natalie Hoidal, Tshuaj Ntsuab (Plant Medicine), Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis

5/7/2026, 7:00 PM, Sarah Peterson, Dish and Tell,  Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis   
   
5/13/26, 4:00 PM, Lori Sturdevant, Martin Sabo, Edina Senior Center, Friends of Edina Library, Edina

Greater Minnesota

4/18/2026, 10:00 AM, Carolyn Olson, Pearl's Garden, Oliver Kelley Farm, Elk River

5/7/2026, 4:00 PM, Stephanie Hansen, True North Cabin Cookbook, Volume Two, 2026 Austin Page Turners Authors of the Year, Austin Public Library, Austin

5/12/2026, 6:00 PM, Michael Risku, Following the Fish, The Bookstore at Fitger's, Duluth

5/16/2026, 11:00 AM, Carolyn Olson, Pearl's Garden, The Bookstore at Fitger's, Duluth

In the Media

Carolyn Olson, Pearl's Garden, School Library Journal

Carolyn Olson, Pearl's Garden, Booklist

Carolyn Olson, Pearl's Garden, "Children's Books for Earth Day 2026," Publishers Weekly

Sarah Peterson, Dish and Tell: Recipes from the Heart, "Favorite Recipes from Sarah Peterson's 'Dish and Tell,'" Minnesota Star Tribune

Zongxee Lee, Tshuaj Ntsuab, "'Calling America HOME' Series with Zongxee Lee," Asian Media Access

Zongxee Lee, Tshuaj Ntsuab, "Green Medicine: Plants That Hold a People Together,"  Bloom With Diana Pierce

Noteworthy

Minnesota Book Awards
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library present the 2026 Minnesota Book Awards on May 6 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Two MNHS Press books and authors are finalists: Greg Gaut, The War at Home, and Ka F. Wong, Enmity and Empathy. Congratulations to all the finalists.

National Reviews
Carolyn Olson's picture book Pearl's Garden has racked up three more national reviews, including a second appearance in Publishers Weekly, this time as recommended reading for Earth Day. School Library Journal wrote, "Funky, modern artwork is a perfect complement to the urban setting and shows the warm relationships of the family and the community. This book would be perfect for introducing a unit on gardening or starting a community garden. . . . A terrific addition to any library needing picture books about gardens and gardening." Booklist said, "The vibrant illustrations take prominence on each page, as exaggerated figures and saturated colors create arresting images of domestic life. . . . Themes of sustainability, perseverance, and family love combine as everyone eventually comes together to support Pearl and start planning for the next planting season."

Booked on Thursdays
When: Thursday, May 21, 6:30-7:30 pm 
Where: Minnesota History Center, Community Room 
The latest entry in the Inclusion and Community Engagement department's new book club focuses on an MNHS Press anthology edited by Sun Yung Shin, What We Hunger For: Refugee and Immigrant Stories about Food and Family . This session is an informal space to connect with people and to learn about resources related to the history of communities and themes featured in the book. Limited copies of free books are available upon request. 

New in MNopedia

Vietnamese Community of Minnesota

Established in 1981 by first-wave Vietnamese immigrants, Vietnamese Community of Minnesota (Cộng Đồng Người Việt Minnesota) is a non-profit organization that supports Vietnamese Minnesotans through cultural events, education, networking, and other initiatives. It holds multiple cultural events each year, aiming to preserve Vietnamese cultural heritage and promote cross-cultural relations with other Minnesota communities.

Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby

Conceived as a way to launch the inaugural Aquatennial Celebration, the Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby was a 450-mile race that took place on the Mississippi River between 1940 and 1960. Teams of two paddlers raced in stages from Bemidji to Minneapolis, with stops in Grand Rapids, Palisades, Aitkin, Brainerd, Little Falls, St. Cloud, and Anoka. In some years, the race included a stop at Bena on Lake Winnibigoshish to mitigate the dangerous crossing.

Forthcoming Releases

Following the Fish: A History of Commercial Fishing Along Minnesota’s North Shore

Michael Risku
“Michael Risku’s utterly readable Following the Fish offers a delightfully comprehensive look at commercial fishing along Lake Superior’s North Shore. Readers will smell the herring smoking and look into the lined faces of the weather-beaten men who scoured the big lake for their catch. Risku casts his net far, collecting a vast haul of history and geography while chronicling an all-but-vanished lifestyle.” —Curt Brown, author of Minnesota 1918: When Flu, Fire, and War Ravaged the State and So Terrible a Storm: A Tale of Fury on Lake Superior

“Through a personal connection to the history of Lake Superior’s commercial fishing culture, Michael Risku gracefully weaves the story of the industry from its earliest days through the present, from Duluth to the Canadian border. A must-read for fans of Minnesota’s North Shore.” —Lee Radzak, author of The View from Split Rock: A Lighthouse Keeper’s Life

Pub date: 5/12/2026. Book launch: 5/21/2026, 6:00 PM, The Bookstore at Fitger's,  Duluth

Leaving May 31 - Last Chance to view!

Season 2  of our podcast is out now

Bestselling Backlist

Storm's Coming Story by Margi Preus, illustrations by David Geister	The View from Split Rock by Lee Radzak with Curt Brown	Minnesota 1918 by Curt Brown