Review – Fry Bread

Maillard, Kevin Noble. Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story. Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2019.

Summary from publisher 

Winner of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal

A 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Picture Book Honor Winner

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.

Fry bread is food.

It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.

Fry bread is time.

It brings families together for meals and new memories.

Fry bread is nation.

It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.

Fry bread is us.

It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.

My Review

Fry bread was a staple for many Native American people groups. The US government gave them flour as part of their food allotment and they invented this way to make bread. If you’ve never had fry bread made by a native you are missing out.

Fry Bread has many uses in a classroom situation. When teaching categories, the book could be used to describe the many categories fry bread could fit into – shape, sound, food, and more. Author Kevin Maillard is a member of the Seminole Nation and understands the Native culture. He chose poetry as his means to tell the categories of fry bread. He closes the book with a recipe, directions for making fry bread, and an author’s note which gives further details about each category in the book.

Illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal used acrylics, colored pencils, and graphite to illustrate the text. They are beautiful and include people of many colors. They complement the text well.

 Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story received Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children. It was also a Picture Book Honor choice for the American Indian Youth Literature award. 

I will be adding Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story to my K-12 Christian School library. It will be a great addition to a unit about Native Americans.

I borrowed a copy from my local public library. This is my honest review.

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