by Sam Juliano
A catalyst of an entire culture and the symbol of the indomitable spirit of indigenous Americans is a food item so basic that it seemingly can offer nothing more than sustenance, yet as posed by author Kevin Maillard in the all-encompassing Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story the culinary side of what turns out to be a cosmic proposition is more emblematic than elemental. Maillard’s comrade-in-arms in this melting pot of the cultural, sociological and astronomical is the exceedingly gifted Peruvian-American, Juana Martinez-Neal, who just last year won a Caldecott Honor for her sublime illustrations in Alma and How She Got Her Name, a loving chronicle of familial connection, spurred by curiosity, but leading to an understanding of the past and the people who molded their children, grandchildren and nieces. Fry Bread likewise showcases the family as from which all else emanates and for which everything owes its incubation to, but it brings the entire experience of life to bear on what taken at face value is the most embryonic activity for a family unit.
Fry Bread is Food. A quintet of spirited children on a mission dance their way over to a family matriarch recalling the selfless grandma in last year’s award-winning Thank You Omu! who holds an ornate bowl and a toddler sucking on a serving spoon. Like the small-town denizens in Marcia Brown’s Caldecott Honor winning Stone Soup they are decidedly proud their sponsored ingredient will play a vital role in the day’s big culinary event. Never before has flour, salt, yeast corn meal and sugar taken on such an epic role in the scheme of things or so it might seem to this feisty clan. Martinez-Neal’s maiden double page canvas in Fry Bread like all that follow is etched in rich, colorful acrylic and graphite that burst off the page with the major complicity of cream-colored hand-textured paper that is a delight to the fingers. Fry Bread is Shape. A baking bonanza that would surely delight King Bidgood in the Caldecott Honor winning book examining that incorrigible monarch’s excessive propensities, makes a persuasive case for “shape” as an integral essence of any immersion into the baking process. Martinez-Neal’s vision is an irresistible work-in-progress, a contention enforced by the curly haired Nana to whom Maillard connects by comparing the concoction’s “puffiness” to her “softest pillow.” Fry Bread is Sound. Like the crackling of eggs (Classic television fans may recall the Our Gang episode when Stymie tells his friends that eggs can “talk” while being fried) there are “pops” as the bubbles sizzle after the dough is dropped in the pan zeppole-style to the three intoxicated young attendants it is music to their ears.
Maillard evokes the omnipresence of color in any finished fry bread venture and his associations are divine: Golden brown, tan, or yellow/Deep like coffee, sienna, or earth and by extension Light like snow and cream/Warm like rays of sun. The colors too are inexorably wed to the Native American palette, and to the earth which their members tilled for generations. Fry Bread is Flavor. The author reinforces this fundamental foodstuff (Fry Bread is Flavor) as a rallying cry for accessories that bring their own distinctive and delectable taste, beans or soup, tacos, cheese and vegetables, honey and jam. In one of the most fascinating and comprehensive “author’s note” we’ve yet seen in a picture book Maillard relates that in the vast diversity of Indian country, there is no set way to prepare fry bread, but more importantly it serves as a kind of entry point in bringing people together “through a shared culinary and cultural experience.” The kitchen scene, according to Martinez-Neal, is one of joyful anticipation and is rewarded in the ensuing Fry Bread is Time tapestry where this grateful dinner table clan prepare to reap the fruit of their labors. The most basic items in the simplest table spread – lettuce, corn, tomatoes, seems like a veritable smorgasbord for family members who put togetherness and camaraderie in poll position at any meal. Fry Bread is Art. Hand crafted dolls and basket weaving are showcased in exquisite canvas that evokes pride in a culture and a further example how the smallest denomination at a kitchen table will segue into other deeper traditions of common heritage. To this end of course young Nada nods off implying her time will come.
The very first (and rightful) reference to Caucasian plundering of Native American lands – Fry Bread is History –paints the first picture of austerity as the prohibitively effervescent audience appear shocked and saddened over the revelations as crows hover above with unmistakable symbolism. Maillard’s haunting prose, The long walk, the stolen land/Strangers in our own world with unknown food/We made new recipes from what we had brings the narrative back to fry bread which was partly the result of a dearth of crops. In the ebullient geographical land-water spread Fry Bread is Place Mailliard pays tribute to wide dispersion of indigenous peoples north and south and east and west and Martinez-Neal responds with marvelous positive-energy infused depictions In Fry Bread is Nation the author, a member of the Seminole Nation offers up a powerful list of the individuals tribes who together hold the banner of Native Americans, metaphorically united by their common mode of sustenance: Abenaki, Apache, Arapahoe Ojibwe, Onondaga, Oglala Sioux Narragansett, Navajo, Nipmuc Seminole, Shoshone, Sac & Fox. Martinez-Neal’s background inscriptions of people and places related to the Native American experience evinces a war memorial feel and it is meant to equal one in severity and commemoration.
Fry Bread is Everything. Evoking interconnection with a startling spread of the cosmos in harmony the artist employs blurred silhouettes in an astronomical canvas that evokes van Gogh but summarily connects all the dots of region, duration, size and ethnicity in validation of the famed passage of equality in Thomas Jefferson’s 1776 declaration. Maillard then ties the final knot in the human equation, asserting that Fry Bread is Us, and the tapestry provides living proof that the modern-day descendants are here to carry on treasured traditions right down to the most basic of them all, which is of the coarse the starting point and title of the book. We strengthen each other to learn, change and survive is the prevailing mantra and Martinez-Neal eyes this the household where the erstwhile fry bread awaits Nara’s sure-to-be succulent meal. Seated on a hand embroidered rug the child represents mankind’s perseverance and carnal reward from years of sacrifice.
Readers who would like to bring the ultimate sensory engagement with this mouth-watering collaboration need only to avail themselves of Maillard’s recipe and the ensuing instructions. The remarkable aforementioned “Author’s Note” runs eight pages and comprehensively amplifies the titles that chapter off this most original and unique picture book with a bibliography at the closing. Fry Bread’s attractive craftsmanship can also be witnessed in a celebration of native tribes, painstakingly scrolled on the front and back end papers and behind the lovely dust jacket culled from an inside illustration, the artist revises the Fry Bread is Shape spread to reinforce the advent of what was to become a solidarity of culture and tradition. As extraordinary as a song with equally great music as lyrics, Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story fuses art and prose compellingly but for Martinez-Neal she is again squarely in the Caldecott mix for expressive, evocative and beautiful art which has even expanded what she negotiated for her Caldecott Honor. Much too stereotypical to call “delicious” but heck, that’s just what it is.
Note: This is the eighteenth entry in the 2019 Caldecott Medal Contender series. The annual venture does not purport to predict what the committee will choose, rather it attempts to gauge what the writer feels should be in the running. In most instances the books that are featured in the series have been touted as contenders in various online round-ups at children’s book sites, but for the ones that are not, the inclusions are a humble plea to the committee for consideration. It is anticipated the series will include in the neighborhood of around 25 titles; the order which they are being presented in is arbitrary, as every book in this series is a contender. Some of my top favorites of the lot will be done near the end. The awards will be announced in January, hence the reviews will continue until the early part of that month.
Another amazing review as you move to the finish line with breakneck speed. I do remember the previous book from this illustrator and the review you had written for it (last year). The art is magnificent. A great idea and quite moving.
Love your comment Ricky! Ha! Thank you so much!
Way back when, when I was a teacher in Grand Rapids, Moose Lake and Ilford, Northern Manitoba, a bread we called bannock was a comfort food and a sign of making do. The vivacious illustrations, with their media energy, were both familiar and yet more savvy than what I encountered. Thanks very much, for the memory, Sam, with your heartfelt presentation!
Hall of Fame comment in every sense! Thank you so much Jim!!! Fascinating!!!
A fantastic idea for a children’s book, and great to see such supplements. The art is so beautiful. I offer you spirited applause for this review Sammy!
Thank you so very much Celeste! Much appreciated!
Awesome review and picture book! I need to cook me up this recipe!
Yes you most certainly do Karen! It is a big if basic culinary winner! Thank you!