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Quick answer: If you loved Fry Bread, try We Are Water Protectors, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, Jingle Dancer, Thunder Boy Jr., Berry Song and Sweetest Kulu. Each one is a warm picture book about family, food, culture or Native American life today.
Kevin Noble Maillard's 2019 picture book, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, celebrates fry bread, a food shared at Native American family tables. Each page describes fry bread as shape, sound, color, flavor, time, art, history and place, and shows a modern, diverse Native family cooking and eating together. It won the Robert F. Sibert Medal. Readers love its rhythm, its pictures and its notes on history. These books share its family, its food and its culture.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Age | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| We Are Water Protectors | Carole Lindstrom | 3-8 | readers who want Native voices on nature |
| We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga | Traci Sorell | 3-8 | readers who like seasons and gratitude |
| Jingle Dancer | Cynthia Leitich Smith | 4-8 | readers who like family traditions |
| Thunder Boy Jr. | Sherman Alexie | 3-7 | readers who like names and identity |
| Berry Song | Michaela Goade | 3-8 | readers who like gathering food |
| Sweetest Kulu | Celina Kalluk | 0-4 | babies and toddlers |
| Bowwow Powwow | Brenda J. Child | 4-8 | readers who like powwows |
| Bee-bim Bop! | Linda Sue Park | 3-7 | readers who like family cooking |
| Dumpling Soup | Jama Kim Rattigan | 4-8 | readers who like family food |
| Thank You, Omu! | Oge Mora | 3-7 | readers who like sharing food |
| Bilal Cooks Daal | Aisha Saeed | 4-8 | readers who like friends sharing food |
| Tortillas Para Mamá | Margot C. Griego | 2-6 | readers who like bilingual rhymes |
| Eyes That Kiss in the Corners | Joanna Ho | 4-8 | readers who like family pride |
| Saturday | Oge Mora | 3-7 | readers who like mother and daughter days |
| The Water Walker | Joanne Robertson | 4-8 | readers who like true stories |
1. We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom
A girl stands up to protect water from a pipeline.
Best for: readers who want Native voices on nature.
2. We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell
A Cherokee family celebrates the year.
Best for: readers who like seasons and gratitude.
3. Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith
A girl gathers jingles to dance at a powwow.
Best for: readers who like family traditions.
4. Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie
A boy wants a name of his own.
Best for: readers who like names and identity.
5. Berry Song by Michaela Goade
A Tlingit girl and her grandmother gather berries.
Best for: readers who like gathering food.
6. Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk
An Inuit lullaby to a newborn.
Best for: babies and toddlers.
7. Bowwow Powwow by Brenda J. Child
A girl and her dog attend a powwow.
Best for: readers who like powwows.
8. Bee-bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park
A Korean American girl helps make a favorite dish.
Best for: readers who like family cooking.
9. Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan
A Hawaiian family makes dumplings for New Year's.
Best for: readers who like family food.
10. Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora
A woman shares her stew with the neighborhood.
Best for: readers who like sharing food.
11. Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed
A boy cooks his family's dish with friends.
Best for: readers who like friends sharing food.
12. Tortillas Para Mamá by Margot C. Griego
Spanish and English nursery rhymes.
Best for: readers who like bilingual rhymes.
13. Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho
A girl celebrates eyes like her family's.
Best for: readers who like family pride.
14. Saturday by Oge Mora
A girl and her mother plan a special day.
Best for: readers who like mother and daughter days.
15. The Water Walker by Joanne Robertson
An Ojibwe grandmother walks to protect water.
Best for: readers who like true stories.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with Fry Bread: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to Fry Bread. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most. If a pick is part of a longer series, read the first book before you commit, and check the age or content notes in the table before passing a book to a younger reader.
How to Choose
For more Native picture books, start with We Are Water Protectors and We Are Grateful. If the food and family moments were your favorite part, Thank You, Omu!, Dumpling Soup and Bilal Cooks Daal are wonderful. Toddlers will love Sweetest Kulu, while Jingle Dancer and Bowwow Powwow share powwow traditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Fry Bread about?
It celebrates fry bread as a food that brings a Native American family together.
Did Fry Bread win awards?
Yes. It won the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal.
Who illustrated Fry Bread?
Juana Martinez-Neal.
What age is Fry Bread for?
It suits children about 3 to 8.
Does the book include a recipe?
Yes. It includes a fry bread recipe and an author's note.
Who is Kevin Noble Maillard?
A Seminole Nation author and law professor.
Does the book cover history?
Yes. The author's note explains the history of fry bread and Native nations.