Native American Books

  

Noble-Maillard, Kevin. 2019. Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story. Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal. Roaring Brook Press. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1626727465

 Synopsis:

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:

 I truly loved this book from the story to the illustrations. The story is one that I think many of us can relate to because no matter your culture you have traditions and in Fry Bread you get to learn about a Native American tradition. After reading this story I wanted to learn how to make Fry Bread. The illustrations fit the book perfectly and are accurately appropriate for skin tone, clothing, and the images of the home. I also like that there are children with varying skin tones because this is a book of family and I feel it's trying to stress that we are all family. This book has been added to my son's home library and I recommend it to everyone. It is a great cozy book to read with your family.

Awards/Reviews:

A 2020 Charlotte Huck Recommended Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Picture Book of 2019
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019
A School Library Journal Best Picture Book of 2019
A Booklist 2019 Editor's Choice
A Shelf Awareness Best Children's Book of 2019
A Goodreads Choice Award 2019 Semifinalist
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book of 2019
A National Public Radio (NPR) Best Book of 2019
An NCTE Notable Poetry Book
A 2020 NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
A 2020 ALA Notable Children's Book
A 2020 ILA Notable Book for a Global Society
2020 Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year List
One of NPR's 100 Favorite Books for Young Readers
Nominee, Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award 2022-2022
Nominee, Illinois Monarch Award 2022

Winner of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
A 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Picture Book Honor Winner

“A wonderful and sweet book . . . Lovely stuff.” ―The New York Times Book Review

“With buoyant, heartfelt illustrations that show the diversity in Native America, the book tells the story of a post-colonial food, a shared tradition across the North American continent . . . Through this topic that includes the diversity of so many Native peoples in a single story, Maillard (Mekusukey Seminole) promotes unity and familiarity among nations. Fry bread is much more than food, as this book amply demonstrates.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review


“Fry Bread celebrates the thing itself and much, much more . . . Maillard and Martinez-Neal bring depth, detail, and whimsy to this Native American food story, with text and illustrations depicting the diversity of indigenous peoples, the role of continuity between generations, and the adaptation over time of people, place, and tradition.” ―Booklist, starred review

“A powerful meditation” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review

“This warm and charming book shows and affirms Native lives. The informational text and expressive drawings give it broad appeal.” ―School Library Journal, starred review

Connections

-          Learn about Fry Bread and make it.

-          Dig deeper into Native American Tribes and traditions.

-          Read books of similar subject matter from other cultures to discuss how we are all similar. This book made me think of Too Many Tamales.

-          Author Study

-          Illustrator Study

Tingle, Tim. 2019. Stone River Crossing. Lee and Low Books. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1620148235

Synopsis:

Martha Tom knows better than to cross the Bok Chitto River to pick blackberries. The Bok Chitto is the only border between her town in the Choctaw Nation and the slave-owning plantation in Mississippi territory. The slave owners could catch her, too. What was she thinking? But crossing the river brings a surprise friendship with Lil Mo, a boy who is enslaved on the other side. Then Lil Mo discovers that his mother is about to be sold and the rest of his family left behind. But Martha Tom has the answer: cross the Bok Chitto and become free.

Crossing to freedom with his family seems impossible with slave catchers roaming, but then there is a miracle--a magical night where things become unseen and souls walk on water. By morning, Lil Mo discovers he has entered a completely new world of tradition, community, and ... a little magic. But as Lil Mo's family adjusts to their new life, danger waits just around the corner.

 

My Review:

This historical novel was very interesting to read as I have always been interested in Native Americans and learning more about slavery. I had never thought of the two topics together but after reading this book I wanted to know more. The story is a unique tale with magical nights, and the tale of friendship and good people. The book is a wonderful book to teach how friendship can bring us all together no matter our cultures. Lil Mo’s family has to learn about their new world of the Choctaw community and all the differences between the world he came from and the one who saved him. Martha and Lil Mo experience many things together, and is full of humor and adventures that keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s a wonderful read that really makes you want to know more about Native Americans who helped slaves find freedom.

Awards/Reviews:

* "Richly descriptive and leavened with humor, Tingle's complex novel offers valuable insights into rarely told history." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "[Stone River Crossing] is a potent mix of history, folkways, and friendship, often wrapped in a gossamer web of magic realism. Tingle, a member of the Choctaw Nation, draws on the group's own stories to spin a tale that begins slowly but builds and twists, until the tension and intensity will have readers at the edge of their chairs." -- Booklist, starred review

* "As he did in his picture book Crossing Bok Chitto (illustrated by Jeanne Rorex Bridges, 2006), Tingle (Choctaw) captures a rarely explored bond that formed during colonization between enslaved Africans and Native Americans, an alliance of survival under white colonial tyranny. He evokes a 19th-century Southern landscape, presenting it through the lens of Americans whose perspectives are too rarely shared. This vital story will deepen readers' understanding of the nation's complex history." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Tingle's narrative, set in 1808 Mississippi, brings to life a multitude of fascinating characters while illuminating a little-known moment in history when the Choctaw risked their lives and lands to help free slaves. First told by Tingle in a picture book, Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom (2006), the story is expanded here. Throughout the tale—told with heart and much humor—runs the refrain "we are all in this together," a fine message for our current divisive times. -- The Horn Book

Connections:

-          In an expansion of his award-winning picture book Crossing Bok Chitto, acclaimed Choctaw storyteller Tim Tingle offers a story that reminds readers that the strongest bridge between cultures is friendship.

-          Learn more about Choctaw Nation

-          Learn more about Native Americans during the slavery, in relation to African Americans, helping slaves escape and more

-          Author study

Bruchac, James, and Joseph. 2012. RABBIT’S SNOW DANCE. Dial Books. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0803732704

Synopsis:

Master storytellers Joseph and James Bruchac present a hip and funny take on an Iroquois folktale about the importance of patience, the seasons and listening to your friends. Pair it with stories about stubborn animals like Karma Wilson’s Bear Wants More and Verna Aardema’s Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears.
 
Rabbit loves the winter. He knows a dance, using an Iroquois drum and song, to make it snow—even in summertime! When the rabbit decides it should snow early, he starts his dance and the snow begins to fall. The other forest animals are not happy and ask him to stop, but Rabbit doesn’t listen. How much snow is too much, and will Rabbit know when to stop?

My Review:

 Rabbit’s Snow Dance was such a fun book to read with a lively story and amazing illustrations. I think this book is a great one to use when discussing folklore and learning lessons from situations around you. The story and illustrations relate to cultural storytelling and the use of animals as characters. The book is a great story that continues sharing the Native American tales, and one to use to teach many lessons to children. Rabbit’s story is a fun story to read together with voices, singing, and making the drum noises throughout the book. I highly recommend this book be added to everyone's home library.

Awards/Reviews:

“The telling is sprightly, and Newman's ink-and-watercolor artwork makes an ideal companion. An appealing addition to folktale shelves.” —Booklist

“This modern retelling maintains [the Bruchacs’] solid reputation for keeping Native American tales fresh.” —School Library Journal

"A welcome departure from the stodgier art-work that can often accompany myths and folk tales."-Publishers Weekly

"A good choice for a preschool read-aloud." -Horn Book Reviews

"The telling is sprightly, and Newman's ink-and-watercolor artwork makes an ideal companion. An appealing addition to folktale shelves." -Booklist

"This modern retelling maintains [the Bruchacs'] solid reputation for keeping Native American tales fresh." -School Library Journal

"The picturesque language makes it a pleasure to read aloud."-BCCB — review feed

Connections:

-          Read other books by this father-son duo such as How Chipmunks Got His Stripes, Raccoon’s Last Race and Turtles’ Race.

-          Great book to use in folklore studies.

-          Learn more about the Iroquois people.

-          Author study of Joseph and James Bruchac

Boulley, Angeline. 2023.. Firekeepers Daughter. Square Fish; reprint edition. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250866035

 

Synopsis:

Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team.

Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.

Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims.

Now, as the deceptions—and deaths—keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.

My Review:

Boulley does an amazing job with her story that has modern yet classical feel to it. She has done a great job including language and customs that reflect the Native American world. This book is one that I think many can relate to and be drawn into. Daunis’ story I feel is one that many can relate to from the aspects of parents from 2 different cultures, caring for her sick mother, and mourning the death of her brother. All the while falling for a local boy who lies, normal teen life experiences, postponing her college dream and yet wanting to be a part of her Ojibwe tribe. You learn a lot about the tribal world she witnesses daily and how it compels her to take care of her community.

I feel that this book is multiple stories with in one book that keep you enthralled the entire time. I recommend this heart-felt read to everyone, not just young adults.

Awards/Reviews:

A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER!
A MORRIS AWARD WINNER!
AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK!

A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK

An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller

Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.

“One of this year's most buzzed-about young adult novels.” —Good Morning America

A TIME Magazine Best YA Book of All Time Selection
Amazon's Best YA Book of 2021 So Far (June 2021)
A 2021 Kids' Indie Next List Selection
An Entertainment Weekly Most Anticipated Books of 2021 Selection
A PopSugar Best March 2021 YA Book Selection

Connections:

-          Read the next book in the series.

-          Author study.

-          Research more into Native American customs, tribal police, and other elements of the community.