Book Review: Fry Bread

 

Written by: Kevin Noble Maillard; Illustrated by: Juana Martinez-Neal
Published by: Roaring Brook Press, 2019
ISBN: 978-1626727465

Plot Summary

On the surface, Fry Bread is a story about a family making a traditional dish. However, this book has a much deeper meaning than that. Fry bread is a dish that is made by numerous Native American tribes and is symbolic of their culture and the struggles that they have endured. The book takes readers on a multi-sensory journey that describes how fry bread looks, sounds, and tastes, along with all the things it represents beyond food.

Critical Analysis

Fry Bread certainly a book about the traditional Native dish, but is also about so much more. Fry bread is thought to have originated from a food shortage that many tribes experienced as a result of government rationing. Maillard includes extensive notes at the end of the book, which add to the authenticity of the story. Maillard's own ethnicity is made up of both Native American and African American cultures, so as a member of the Seminole Nation, he is writing as an insider and is well-poised to speak on the traditions and issues of Native Americans.

The illustrations add so much depth and warmth to the book. It is obvious that the characters in the book are all Native Americans, but they are not all carbon copies of one another. Martinez-Neal incorporates features from many different tribes found around the country, giving the characters facial features, skin tones, and hair textures that are accurate for their tribe. The illustration for "Fry bread is place" shows the book's characters in locations on a map representing the homes of their ancestors (and possibly their own homes). This is the perfect way to represent the fact that Native Americans are not a cultural monolith. The term describes many different people living in different parts of the country who look completely different from one another. However, the fact that fry bread is one thing that ties them all together indicates that they do share some unique experiences, unfortunately, many of which may be negative interactions with the United States government, which led to the necessity of fry bread.

Although fry bread had somewhat of a depressing start, its transformation into a symbol of the Native culture represents their resilience and determination. In a Q&A with Publishers Weekly, Maillard states that he chose to write about fry bread because it was something that was so central not only to his own family, but to many native families. He mentions how time-consuming it is to make, which is mirrored in the words "Fry bread is time". This shows not only that the bread takes a long time to make, but also that it is time that is spent together with family making lasting memories.

Since fry bread is a basic recipe, it can be combined with many other foods to make dishes. Maillard writes "Fry bread is flavor" and lists several different foods that are combined with fry bread to make meals. This again represents the fact that while fry bread is something that many Native people have in common, each tribe uses it in their own unique way, combining it with other foods that are local to them. This reiterates that while Native Americans do have some shared experiences, they are not all the same.

More of the Native American culture is depicted throughout the book. Traditional art is showcased on the "Fry bread is art" page where the illustrations include both woven baskets and handmade dolls. Maillard explains that both of these are traditional to the Seminole people and discusses their significance and history at the end of the book. Including the background behind the crafts adds so much depth to the story and shows that Native art is very meaningful to the people.

Fry bread is a strong part of the history of the Native American people and represents so many other aspects of their culture. The pain and struggle that they endured at the hands of white settlers is manifested through fry bread, but so is their ability to build from what they had and overcome their hardships. It represents the people themselves as well. The front and end pages display the names of many of the tribes that make fry bread and live today in the United States. Being able to see all the different groups listed out that way shows just how many there are and again, even though they have some things in common, they are all their own unique people as well.

Awards Won

2020- Robert F. Sibert Award

2020- American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book (Best Picture Book)

Review Excerpt

From The Hornbook, published November 25, 2019

"This affectionate picture book depicts an intergenerational group of Native American family members and friends as they make fry bread together. The text begins: “Fry bread is food / Flour, salt, water / Cornmeal, baking powder / perhaps milk, maybe sugar.” On subsequent pages we learn that “Fry bread is shape…sound…color,” etc.; and through the refrain “Fry bread is…” readers learn that the food staple, although common to many Native American homes, is as varied as the people who make it and the places where it is made. This diversity, too, is reflected in Martinez-Neal’s warmhearted acrylic, colored-pencil, and graphite illustrations, on hand-textured paper, in which the characters within Native American communities have varying skin tones and hair texture." 

Connections

Make fry bread at home, and bring it in for students to taste. Consider creating a video so students can see the process and hear the sounds that Maillard discusses in the story. 

Have students research which tribes lived on the land where their school is.