Watch
author Nobel Maillard read his book Fry Bread.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nobel
Maillard, Kevin and Juana Martinez-Neal. FRY BREAD A NATIVE AMERICAN FAMILY
STORY. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2019. ISBN:978-1-62672-746-5.
PLOT
SUMMARY: Fry Bread written in free verse is the story of a modern
Native American family sharing family time to make fry bread. Fry bread represents time spend together but
also their history and culture.
ANALYSIS:
The characters
represented in the story show how diverse a Native American family can be. There are different skin colors and different
hair types, yet they represent a family that shares so much with each other.
SETTING: Most of
the story takes place at the home where the family gathers to make the fry
bread. Within the home we see the
colorful patterned clothes used by older family members, in the kitchen the
patterns are visible in many of the dishes as well as in the artwork when
creating handmade dolls and coil baskets.
There are other places mentioned in the story such as a map of the
United States and beyond without states and countries to represent that the
Native Americans existed before tribal lands were taken away. The universe to represent how many around the
world from different cultures, religions and communities are nourished and
comfort by bread.
LLUSTRATION ANALYSIS: The illustrations were done in acrylics, colored pencil, and graphite on
hand -textured paper. The illustrator
did an outstanding job with the characters to show a modern diverse Native American family. There are patterns drawn in objects such in
clothing, coil baskets and handmade dolls that are a representation of Native
Americans.
THEME: A few themes depicted in this story are community, culture and history. The author demonstrates how fry bread represents so much than just a food for Native Americans with the subtitles in each page. For example, fry bread is history, fry bread is a nation, fry bread is place.
CULTURAL MARKERS:
Stereotypes: The author and illustrator have ensured to avoid any type of stereotypes by showing a wide range of physical appearances within the characters in the book. There is a wide range of skin and hair colors in the illustrations that show that Native Americans’ appearance is not the same.
Source notes provided by the author: In the author’s note, he goes into detail of the representation of fry bread as he presented it on every page.
Author qualifications to write relating to the culture: Originally from Oklahoma, Maillard is a member of the Seminole Nation in Oklahoma. He provides the readers with his fry bread recipe and mentions under the author’s note how his recipe might be different, but it is what he inherited from his family. The characters in the story represent the author’s family.
CONNECTIONS: Students can answer one or more of the
following questions regarding special foods for their family. They will create a poster board with their
food and the answers to the questions.
The students will then take a gallery walk to learn about the foods and
answer one or more questions on what they learned from their classmates using
the application Padlet.
Questions
retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/fry-bread
Families
can talk about how important fry bread is to the family and their culture in Fry
Bread: A Native American Family Story. What foods are important in your family?
Are they everyday foods or foods you eat only on holidays or special occasions?
The book says,
"Fry bread is sound" and "Fry bread is shape," and
"Fry bread is color." What food does your family eat that has its own
special sound, shape, and color?
How does
food help tell the history of a people? Are there things your family eats that
your ancestors have eaten for hundreds of years? What stories have you heard
about them?
Padlet
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