Contemporary Counter Narratives

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story

Written by Kevin Noble Maillard

Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal

Summary

This short children’s book story is about an aspect prominent in Indigenous people’s culture. The delicious and warm sounding food, known as fry bread, is described to bring the Indigenous people together. Though tribes are different from one another, they share a rich history that connects them from all over America.

Personal Reflection

I have never read a children’s book quite like this one. In this children’s book, it made me look at the illustrations and read the words with the desire to taste the food described on each page. By the time I reached the end of the story, I was relieved to find the instructions on how to make the delicious sounding bread so that I can recreate it for myself.

The author’s notes at the back of the book are also quite literally just as long as the story itself. In the author’s notes, the reader can get a sense of how authentic and true the author is in writing the story and how authentic the fry bread is in the cultural aspect. The author’s note gives a bit of history with Indigenous populations and fry bread. The author, Kevin Noble Maillard, is apart of the Seminole Nation community and has many experiences talking with other Native communities. In his author’s note, he explains the historical background of fry bread in the Indigenous community and his own experiences growing up making it with his family and the cultural purpose it has to him. Being that he belongs to the cultural community talked about in the story and has communicated with other members of the Native community, he provides an authentic and realistic perspective for the reader to learn from. He also listed a series of references at the back of the book to back up his historic claims throughout his author notes.

Illustrations

The illustrations have just as much significance in the story as the writing in my opinion. What immediately caught my attention when I opened the book is that a list of what appears to be Native American tribes. The list is enormous and having it written on the first and last pages of the book really encapsulates the idea that these tribes stand together as one. Another thing that caught my attention is that many of the faces in the book had different skin pigments. I think a common stereotype is that all Native Americans have straight, long black hair and a light brown skin tone. With all of these characters looking different but still representing this culture shows that you don’t have to look exactly like the people in historic texts to be a Native American. The illustrator also included Indigenous patterns talked about at the back of the book to represent the culture.

Instructional Use

This is great book to use to talk about Indigenous history and their culture. It is backed up with references and is culturally authentic written by someone who belongs to the community. I think students would be fascinated to look at all of the tribal names at the front and back of the book. I think it will also get them interested when they see the recipe at the back of the book and want to run home to ask their parents/guardians to help them make it. It breaks down some common stereotypes such as the idea of what Native Americans are “supposed to look like”.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day — celebrated on October 12th

Awards

· Caldecott Honor Winner

· Pura Belpré Award Winner

Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship

Written by Irene Latham & Charles Waters

Illustrated by Selina Alko & Sean Qualls

Summary

This book is a series of poems woven together and written in the perspective of a two students in a class exploring their differences from one another. Specifically, students are given a class project where they write poems and two students have been paired together. The students write poems in the book and tell their own story about how they are feeling, the experiences they face, and the differences between them regarding their race. First, seeming to be weary of one another, they start to create a bond through understanding one another and finding that they are a lot more alike than they originally thought.

Character Acknowledgements

The story follows two children in particular, Charles and Irene, who are classmates and assigned a poem writing project together. These two characters seem very different from each other at first. The first poem even writes “Charles is black and I’m white,” pointing out their racial differences as well as all of their other differences from one another. Irene is a quiet white girl with straight, blonde hair. Charles, on the other hand, is a talkative black boy with curly African American hair. After the children confront their physical differences, the similarities between the two start to emerge. The two students’ poems are written beside each other so the reader can easily compare the two children’s experiences. The two children both want colorful clothing, they both go to church, play sports, feel lonely at times during recess, and get in trouble at home.

Personal Reflection

Because there is this side-by-side comparison of the two children and the two children represent two different cultures and races, the audience gets to experience a counter-narrative as they read along. The reader experiences Irene’s childhood that told her “sky black, streets black, faces black, fear white”. This poem is significant because it is so short yet has such a profound meaning and impact. I think an important part to highlight in this poem is the “faces black” part. The implication is that Irene has grown up with family members perpetuating that African American people or People of Color are dangerous or more likely to commit crimes. When the poem said “fear white”, it is like the Aunt of Irene was saying she is afraid of the black faces. However, when we read Charles’ poem in comparison to Irene’s, it shows that his family also has a concern for him going out late at night. His family’s concern was directed more to a neighborhood being dangerous instead of Irene’s family concern of certain people being dangerous. Irene’s family perpetuates the dominant white society notion that the People of Color community are more likely to commit crime while Charles’ poem disrupts it and shows that crime or danger is not linked to a person’s skin color and that African American families don’t want their kids going out late at night either to keep them safe. The poems also challenge some stereotypes in other ways such as Charles’ poem about being picked first for a team to play basketball in gym class because of his skin color until his classmates realized he had not acquired that skill. Having poems written into a book and shared with students provides a platform for students to talk about these critical issues. It provides an opportunity to talk about their own experiences and stereotypes they have come across that they feel are wrong. Just providing the space for students to talk about these issues is a positive step forward.

Author Authenticity

It is no wonder why the authors named the characters after themselves after reading the author’s note at the end of the book. The poets, Charles and Irene, corresponded together to create the work of art that is this book. They drew on the real life experiences they had as children when they went to school in the 1980s to create the fictional story. Understanding that the authors have used their own experiences to write these poems create an authentic perspective from each culture they represent. They each bring their own lens and perspective to the book and use it to connect the lives of the characters in the story. Reading Irene’s poems really spoke to me, personally. I am also a white, middle-class American girl and have had some very similar experiences as the character, Irene. I understand being the quiet girl in class and feeling the immense nerves when hearing the teacher tell students to find a partner. I also felt the loneliness of some recesses and being picked on by other classmates. I understood her pain when she learns about slavery and all the other past wrongdoings of people that share our skin color. Feeling shame and sorrow when it wasn’t our sin but somehow our wish to rectify it. Irene was very relatable to me as a white girl. Charles was an eye opener for me to read about the character’s life as an African American boy. To read that someone touched his hair before him even granting that person permission and then on top of it to be made fun of it afterwards is something I’ve experienced in my own way. I felt his anger and saw the illustration of his pursed lips and flushed face. It felt very familiar to me as I reflect on my experience of a stranger touching my hair to then make fun of it. As other readers are able to do when reading these poems, I walked in Charles’ shoes. Feeling the confused frustration of people purposefully getting a tan but then are hateful towards people with a dark skin color. I felt his fear when he saw the cops on the news. The authors used their authentic perspectives to compare and contrast their lives and cultures. By doing so, it allows readers into two different lives that they might relate to or feel enlightened by their differences.

Awards

· Charlotte Huck Honor Award

· Notable Children’s Books Poem Written By Me:

I wrote this poem after reading “Can I Touch Your Hair” because that poem in particular really spoke to me. Even though I have different hair from the character, Charles, I feel like I understand what he went through when someone touched his hair without his permission and said something offensive about it. When I was in high school, a girl I had a class with walked up behind me and put her fingers through my hair and then proceeded to tell me how my hair is very thin. It is something that I was already self conscious about as a young teenage girl and something that magnified it for me when that girl said something about it. I think in some ways it was a reason I decided to dye my hair a darker color because I wanted to create the illusion of it being thicker.

References

Alko, S., Latham, I., Qualls, S., Waters, C., (2018). Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship. Carolrhoda Books.

Maillard, K. N., & Martinez-Neal, J., (2019). Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story. Roaring Book Press.