In Martinez-Neal, he was paired with an illustrator who had already earned acclaim, most notably for “Alma and How She Got Her Name,” which she both wrote and illustrated. And his second try showed how much potential the book had. She probably, he said, didn’t expect to hear from him again. His editor kindly sent his first manuscript back. His first efforts to write “Fry Bread” were not successful. He said, he understood from those few words the pain of man who buried his dog on this mountaintop. The dog was remembered as a good companion but was “shot and killed by a malicious hunter.”
On a family drive up the mountain, they discovered a gravestone for Mr. Maillard said he found an example for the kind of story telling needed for a picture book on top of Mount Equinox in Vermont. He looked in the mirror and there was no image there. Images of present-day native people were not to be found. But all he found were stories of people in the past, Squanto and Sacajawea.
When his first child was born 12 years ago, he searched for stories that depicted people like them. Martinez-Neal has written scholarly articles, a necessity for an academic who teaches at Syracuse University, and commentary for the New York Times. Author Kevin Noble Maillard reads from ‘Fry Bread’ while illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal draws at the Wood County District Public Library. Yet, the food is central – Maillard, who grew up in Oklahoma and is a member of the Mekusukey of the Seminole Nation, Band, included his own recipe, based on grandmother’s recipe. Martinez-Neal said she had to slim down the figure of the grandmother, so as not to perpetuate stereotypes. (Video by Dustin Galish)Īt BGSU they said they had to deal with the concerns that fry bread, while beloved by many, is also associated with health problems that plagued indigenous populations – heart disease, diabetes, obesity. Artist Juana Martinez-Neal illustrated while the book was read to the capacity crowd. Author of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, Kevin Noble Maillard, discusses the origins of the book at the Wood County District Public Library.
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