Book Review of "Fry Bread" by Kevin Noble Maillard

 

1.     Bibliography

Maillard, K. 2019. Fry bread: A Native American family story. (Martinez-Neal, J.) Roaring Brook Press. ISBN: 9781626727465

2.     Plot Summary

This book shows us how a family makes fry bread in different steps throughout the book. You see how the fry bread is made, how it looks, how it smells, and how it tastes.  We follow a family, and they show is different cultural representations of how Native Americans embrace their culture and traditions.  We see how this food brings the family together and shows them how important each other is.  We can feel the heartfelt way the families’ customs and traditions positively affect their lives and help them to know their past and create a great future. 

3.     Critical Analysis

In this story we see many different characters portrayed.  No one is mentioned by name, but different cultures are represented.  There are young and older people with different colors of hair, skin and eyes.  There is a woman with a tattoo represented and the characters are authentic with curly hair, straight hair or braided.  The setting of the book is first in an older woman’s house and her, and the children are making fry bread in steps.  Each step of the process is listed with your senses like what it looks like, smells like, and tastes like.  We also see children spread out on a map representing the different cultures around the world.  I believe this book was written in contemporary times because the clothes they are wearing are consistent with today’s children and adults’ clothes.  You also see modern hairstyles like buns and braids.  There are deep cultural values in this story with one page having different tribes written on the entire page in the background.  The Author’s Note in the back of the book provides you with more details about the cultural history of the book.  It gives you a history of fry bread and how it started over 150 years ago.  It talks about how the bowl the bread is made in was modeled after Afton Quall who was a 1969 graduate of Wewoka High School.  The father of the family also has Seminole symbols tattooed on his wrist.  There is a ceramic pot on a page that is typically found on ceremonial sashes that are worn by Seminoles.  One page shows handmade dolls and coil baskets that are part of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Seminole Tribe of Florida.  This story celebrates the fact that Native Americans are here in this world and together they are strong, and we can have many cultures represented here in the United States.  The illustrations in the story have so much meaning and give us guidance into a culture that seeks to be explored and shown.  Overall, this story shows us that no matter where we come from there are aspects of our lives that hold meaning and need to be shared with the world. 

4.     Review Excerpt(s)

“With buoyant, heartfelt illustrations that show the diversity in Native America, the book tells the story of a post-colonial food, a shared tradition across the North American continent . . . Through this topic that includes the diversity of so many Native peoples in a single story, Maillard (Mekusukey Seminole) promotes unity and familiarity among nations. Fry bread is much more than food, as this book amply demonstrates.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“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

5.     Connections

*I would have students compare this book to another cultural food book like Bee-Bim Bop! By Linda Sue Park using a Venn diagram.

*I would have students create a tribal research project where they take one tribe from the book and do some research on the tribes’ cultures or food traditions.