Horn Book More than just food, ‘Fry bread is time...Fry bread is art...Fry bread is history.’ An intergenerational group of Native American friends and family makes fry bread, a common Native food staple as varied as the people who make it; this diversity is reflected in Martinez-Neal's warmhearted illustrations. Back matter explains how fry bread became a part of many Native Americans' diet after being forced from their land and given limited U.S. government rations. Recipe appended. Bib. (c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Using brief statements that begin “fry bread is,” Maillard, who is a member of the Mekusukey band of the Seminole Nation tribe, creates a powerful meditation on the food as “a cycle of heritage and fortune.” In each spread, descriptions of fry bread range from the experiential (flavor, sound) to the more conceptual (nation, place). Bolstering the bold statements, spare poems emphasize fry bread in terms of provenance (“Fry bread is history/ The long walk, the stolen land”), culture (“Fry bread is art/ Sculpture, landscape, portrait”), and community (“Fry bread is time/ On weekdays and holidays/ Supper or dinner/ Powwows and festivals”). In blues and browns with bright highlights, Martinez-Neal’s wispy art features a diverse group of six children carrying ingredients and learning about each statement. A fry bread recipe concludes the book, and an author’s note offers vital, detailed context about this varied dish and its complex history (“The story of fry bread is the story of American Indians”). Ages 3–6. (Oct.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal PreS-Gr 2—Millard explores the rich and varied cultures of modern Native Americans through the lens of fry bread. Each section opens with "Fry Bread" in red capital letters, followed by a short lyrical verses tying the food to different aspects of Indigenous life. For example, the verse for "Fry Bread Is Time" reads "On weekdays and holidays/Supper or dinner/Powwows and festivals/Moments together/With family and friends." The verse for "Fry Bread Is History" explains, "The long walk, the stolen land/Strangers in our own world/With unknown food/We made new recipes/From what we had." Double-page color sketches in muted tones show the diversity of tribal members, with thoughtful details. As elders tell about the Trail of Tears, dark birds turn into sad people in the background. The author, a member of the Seminole Nation, shares his family recipe for fry bread and provides an extensive and thoughtful Author's Note, providing more information on each topic covered and occasionally calling out special details in the drawings. These notes deal with and dispel many stereotypes associated with Native peoples, while providing historical and contemporary facts. VERDICT This warm and charming book shows and affirms Native lives. The informational text and expressive drawings give it broad appeal, making it a first purchase for all libraries.—Tamara Saarinen, Pierce County Library, WA

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Book list Fry Bread celebrates the thing itself and much, much more. The simplicity of the ingredients, readers learn, belies the quality of the cooking process, the proximity with people, the historical tradition, the geography for fry bread is everything. 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. Fry bread becomes a metaphor for resilience, born ironically, as Maillard explains, from the most basic of government-issued ingredients. Martinez-Neal's (Alma and How She Got Her Name, 2018) illustrations are meant to be relished, lingered over. Smiling, round-faced children are shown playing together and learning from elders, and details include traditional Seminole textile designs, dollmaking, and pottery styles. A particularly striking spread depicts a wall etched with the names of hundreds of Native American nations, explicitly countering perceptions about the extinction or invisibility of indigenous peoples. A lengthy author's note provides valuable context and history, as well as the author's personal evolution into the fry bread lady with his own modern take on the recipe. This lovely, important book pairs well with Linda Sue Park's Bee-bim Bop! (2005) and Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji (2011) by F. Zia for fun culinary, familial themes.--Amina Chaudhri Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Kirkus A bright picture book invites kids to cook with a Native American grandma.Kids of all races carry flour, salt, baking powder, and other supplies into the kitchen to make dough for fry bread. Flour dusts the counter as oil sizzles on the stove. Veggies, beans, and honey make up the list of toppings, and when the meal is ready, everyone is invited to join the feast. Community love is depicted in this book as its characters gather on Indigenous land across the continentindoors, outdoors, while making art or gazing at the night sky. This is about more than food, referencing cultural issues such as the history of displacement, starvation, and the struggle to survive, albeit in subtle ways appropriate for young children. 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. Broken down into headings that celebrate what fry bread is, this story reaches readers both young and old thanks to the author's note at the back of the book that dives into the social ways, foodways, and politics of America's 573 recognized tribes. 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. (recipe) (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

School Library Journal Gr 1 Up-Kahlo's unusual life story, background, and art have made her a frequent topic of biographies. Morales's perception of her creative process results in a fresh, winning take on an artist who has rarely been understood. The author uses strong verbs to give Kahlo voice: "I see (Veo)"; "Se (I know)." Kahlo is depicted as a self-possessed woman with a drive to create. Her artistic process has room for others to participate, though-love, imagination, and dreams are closely entangled in her art. In the illustrations, Diego Rivera is shown creating alongside his wife. While the artistic process seems magical to readers, Kahlo knows what she is searching for. Each spread has just one or two words on it, both in English and Spanish. The text floats on the page, with the Spanish in a lighter color, adding to the ethereal, dreamlike feel of the book. Morales's art and O'Meara's photographs take this book to another level. Created with stop-motion puppets, paintings, and digital elements, these are amazing works of art themselves. The puppets are lifelike, resembling Kahlo (with her unibrow) and Rivera accurately. They are surrounded by the animals Kahlo loved, including vibrant feathered parrots, a monkey, and dog. Throughout the book, Kahlo goes searching for inspiration and finds it all around her. Morales incorporates many of the hallmarks of Kahlo's art into her own. The artist wears silver, open-hand earrings and multicolored dresses. She plays with a skeleton puppet on these pages and imagines herself soaring, freed from her fragile body. Morales's note in both English and Spanish describes her connection with Kahlo. A resonant title that can be used anywhere Kahlo's art is studied. It will also be admired in bilingual collections.-Susan E. Murray, formerly at Glendale Public Library, AZ (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Book list Morales artistically distills the essence of the remarkable Frida Kahlo in this esoteric, multigenre picture book. Morales layers English and Spanish words never more than four to a page to depict a Frida who is curious, playful, wise, and inspired. Rather than tell a story, the text captures fragments of Frida's life, like snapshots with bilingual captions. Readers who know about this artist will appreciate that she is so much more than the product of the bus accident that robbed her of her health, and readers who do not know about her will be intrigued to learn more. The heartfelt yet succinct biography at the end provides that information in both languages. The three-dimensional quality of the illustrations lends realism, even though they are quite surreal, and the photography always captures the sparkle in Frida's eyes and the lights at any fiesta. While the picture-book format and bright photographed tableaux will appeal to a younger audience, it's slightly older readers who will be best suited to appreciate the deceptively simple text and references to Kahlo's art.--Chaudhri, Amina Copyright 2014 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly Readers will recognize Morales's (Nino Wrestles the World) handmade Frida Kahlo doll from Kahlo's self-portraits-Morales's doll has the same haunting beauty and direct gaze, and she wears the same Mexican peasant clothing. In a series of composed photographs, Frida gazes at her pet monkey-another handmade creation-who slips the artist a key. The key opens a locked box, which holds a marionette, a jointed skeleton. Spare, lyrical text is set in English and, in fainter type, in Spanish, and each page turn reveals a new word or phrase. "Juego/ I play," Frida says, manipulating the marionette while the monkey sits on her shoulder. Now a paper cutout, Frida is shown dreaming, rescuing an injured fawn, then awakening, restored to doll form, as her husband-a plump, affectionate Diego Rivera-gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Vivo!" she says. "I live!" Frida is presented less as a historical figure than as an icon who represents the life Morales holds sacred; Frida lives because she loves and creates. A detailed biography is included. Ages 4-8. Agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlottte Sheedy Literary Agency. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Publishers Weekly Social media influencer Klee’s sweet debut sets her coming-of-age against the backdrop of her experiences fostering dogs. Bookended by Klee’s preparation for a TV interview in the summer of 2024, the memoir spans 11 years, beginning with her decision to move to New York City after dropping out of college and traveling around the U.S. In the city, Klee took a job assisting a pet photographer (“I came home from my job interview soaking wet and covered in dog slobber”), which spurred her to interact with animals more often in her downtime. She eventually signed up to foster dogs in her Queens apartment, and charmingly recounts the trials and rewards of each of her charges, including Simon, an epileptic mutt Klee wound up adopting in 2019. Along the way, she recalls opening her heart to a variety of men, friends, and occupations, and shares the wisdom she gleaned from her parade of four-legged companions (“They live unencumbered, unrelenting, and the state of the world doesn’t matter”). Throughout, Klee proves an endearing, unfussy guide to growing up. Readers will be charmed. Agent: Jessica Spitz, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Apr.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus A dog foster and rescuer experiences love, loss, love, loss… On the whole, it’s widely agreed, dogs are better than people. Certainly much of Klee’s memoir is testimonial. Arriving in New York City convinced of her unlovability, “a huge billboard across my forehead,” she finds solace in “a room full of puppies” at the animal shelter where she volunteers, alternating that solace with other aspects of daily life that were less wholesome and life-affirming. A boyfriend comes along and is found wanting: He loves her, she doesn’t love him, power trips ensue. The names and physiognomies change, but it goes much the same for page on page, with the occasional sharp observation (“We spent the next two years burning each other to the ground”) interrupting an alternately bland and bleak romantic procession. The dogs, as ever, are better, from the epileptic puppy she takes in, to the surrendered, wheelchair-bound French bulldog that brings and receives so much pleasure once a “happily ever after” home is found. Klee’s memoir is at its best when she writes of the most profound moments of the human-dog bond: the love that can blossom between a dog in need and a broken human with “a freshly stomped on heart,” the inevitable excruciating loss that awaits every day with a beloved dog, a loss tempered by the knowledge that the “in-between is pure magic.” As for the human-on-human stuff, it’s mostly meh: Klee’s boyfriends seem to live in and for themselves, and she doesn’t come off so well herself, though she closes on a happily-ever-after note. Clearly, she has a big heart for dogs, but the boys and other things she’s cried about mostly just get in the way. A modest contribution to the canine bookshelf. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions Inc. Terms

School Library Journal : Gr 5–8—Somewhere in contemporary Britain, "the man Jack" uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe. Nobody Owens, so named because he "looks like nobody but himself," grows up among a multigenerational cast of characters from different historical periods that includes matronly Mistress Owens; ancient Roman Caius Pompeius; an opinionated young witch; a melodramatic hack poet; and Bod's beloved mentor and guardian, Silas, who is neither living nor dead and has secrets of his own. As he grows up, Bod has a series of adventures, both in and out of the graveyard, and the threat of the man Jack who continues to hunt for him is ever present. Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provide the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting. The child Bod's behavior is occasionally too precocious to be believed, and a series of puns on the name Jack render the villain a bit less frightening than he should be, though only momentarily. Aside from these small flaws, however, Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family.—Megan Honig, New York Public Library

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions Inc. Terms

Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions Inc. Terms