Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard
A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Maillard, K. N. (2019). FRY BREAD: A NATIVE AMERICAN FAMILY STORY. FIRST EDITION. Ill. by Martinez-Neal, J.Roaring Brook Press. ISBN: 9781626727465
B. PLOT SUMMARY
Told in lively and powerful verse by debut author Kevin Noble Maillard, Fry Bread is an evocative depiction of a modern Native American family, vibrantly illustrated by Pura Belpre Award winner and Caldecott Honoree Juana Martinez-Neal.
C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS( INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
Kevin Noble Millard, a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, writes this story as a celebration and tribute to family values and traditions. Millard describes frybread, a dish of the indigenous people of North America, by invoking the five senses. He beautifully describes the sight, smell, taste, sound, and feel of the meal in his drawings as well as in text.
The cover of the book shows a classic depiction of a Native American female with brown skin and long, black hair. The characters, drawn and colored with colored pencils, are depicted in a predominantly round fashion that does not highlight bone structure or muscle definition. The colors used for the characters are an eclectic mix of browns and other warm colors which represents different races and ethnicities. Millard also uses the fry bread as a symbol for the many hardships endured throughout the years. Hardships such as the endurance of abuse and their stolen lands, among others. But just as he described their hardships, he uses the fry bread to demonstrate the resilience, adaptability, and creativity of the peoples as they used what was available to them in order to survive. At the end of the book are written the names of hundreds of Native American tribes from all over the United States. The pride with which the names were displayed and remembered was summed up in two words: fry bread.
This book is excellent for children of elementary school to middle school. It is a great way to show the beautiful traditions of the people as well as to show how to appreciate something so simple yet so grand.
D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Winner of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
A 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Picture Book Honor Winner
A 2020 Charlotte Huck Recommended Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Picture Book of 2019
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019
A School Library Journal Best Picture Book of 2019
A Booklist 2019 Editor's Choice
“Fry Bread celebrates the thing itself and much, much more . . . Maillard and Martinez-Neal bring depth, detail, and whimsy to this Native American food story, with text and illustrations depicting the diversity of indigenous peoples, the role of continuity between generations, and the adaptation over time of people, place, and tradition.” ―Booklist, starred review
E. CONNECTIONS
-Students can compare and contrast the ingredients of the fry bread to ingredients of their own culture.
-Students can research a dish that they eat and study its origin and see if it has any particular meaning or circumstance under which it was created.
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