Maillard, Kevin Noble. 2019. FRY BREAD: A NATIVE AMERICAN FAMILY STORY. Ill. Juana Martinez-Neal. New York, NY. Roaring Book Press. ISBN: 978-1-62672-746-5.

BIBLIOGRPAHY 

Maillard, Kevin Noble. 2019. FRY BREAD: A NATIVE AMERICAN FAMILY STORY. Ill. Juana Martinez-Neal. New York, NY. Roaring Book Press. ISBN: 978-1-62672-746-5.  

PLOT SUMMARY 

The fry bread making process is one that includes shapes, sound, color, flavor, time and family. The history of this American Indian art to making fry bread includes the importance of community as well as resilience of the culture and people as they faced the trials and tribulations to their land and community. Fry bread, born from the need to survive from limited food staples, tells the history of the Native American community through food.  

CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS) 

The characters in this picture book are authentic and not stereotyped. The author mentions how the characters all look different because “most people usually think Native Americans always have dark skin and brown hair.” He made sure to include characters that represented range of skin tone and different kinds of hair as well. The author does a great job of balancing good and evil as we see the process of making fry bread as a happy and exciting event surrounded by family and community through the similes that describe Fry bread. Taking a moment to reflect on the history of stolen land and scarce resources, we see the characters with somber faces and dark colors painted across the page showing the dark history to Fry bread.  

The setting of this story takes place majority in a kitchen, and we can see the rich history of the culture through printed cookware representative of the Native American culture. When describing Fry bread as a place we see the children scattered across a piece of land with no divisions and in the author’s note we learn the meaning behind this is a map with no lines showing the stamp of time before being marked by federal territory. The story is filled with cultural details noticed at first glance and then explained in further detail. For example, baskets portrayed in the book show two things, one the generational art being passed down from one generation to the next as well as the history of the bright colored design pattern which is explained as the integrated history of Native Americans with Seminole people.  

One gender role that is very prominent in this picture book is the “town” aunt whose recipe was the closest to the best and they were the person in charge and go-to person for Fry bread. This relates to the gender role of women taking the lead in the kitchen and perfecting recipes while also teaching the younger generation the special recipes. The format of this book is appealing and invites reflection. Each simile takes you to a different part of the experience to making Fry bread and the author’s note at the end gives so many cultural details and rich history to the art of this Native American food including a recipe with measurements and notes to which include where the author got a lot of information from.  

REVIEW EXCERPTS 

ALA Notable Children’s Books, 2020 

American Indian Youth Literature Honor, 2020 

Booklist starred, 09/01/19 

Horn Book Magazine, 11/01/19 

Kirkus Reviews starred, 07/15/19 

New York Times, 11/03/19 

Publishers Weekly starred, 08/05/19 

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, 2020 

School Library Journal starred, 10/01/19 

Booklist starred (September 1, 2019 (Vol. 116, No. 1)): “A lengthy author’s note provides valuable context and history, as well as the author’s personal evolution into the “fry bread lady” with his own modern take on the recipe.” 

Horn Book Guide starred (Fall 2009): “Back matter explains how fry bread became a part of many Native Americans’ diet after being forced from their land and given limited U.S. government rations.  

Kirkus Reviews starred (July 15, 2019): “Broken down into heading that celebrate what fry bread is, this story reaches readers both young and old thanks to the author’s note at the back of the book that dives into the social ways, foodways, and politics of America’s 573 recognized tribes.” 

CONNECTIONS 

A wonderful activity for Fry bread would be to follow the recipe and instructions to the Fry Bread recipe listed in the book.  

A great writing activity would be for students to write and illustrate a favorite family memory of cooking in the kitchen.  

Having students create their own recipe for a favorite meal would be a great hands-on activity for young readers.  

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