Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 07/21/2025 A child remembers a late loved one in this emotionally centered picture book about the Indigenous concept of "walking on." Contemplating where those who have walked on end up, the narrator wonders, "Did they go to the market to thump green melons and sail shopping carts in the sea of aisles?" A visit to the late figure’s home prompts further noticing: "Their things are still here as if they just stepped out: jacket by the door, hair in the brush." But "when I close my eyes, I feel their heart in the hearth of the kitchen." And a pot of warm grape dumplings and a mug of eucalyptus tea slowly summon the loved one’s presence. Maillard (Fry Bread), an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation, gently establishes the child’s feelings of loss and yearning before showing how the senses can help one travel into memory, and how, "when they walk on," loved ones "stay with us like the glimmer of a distant star." Digitally assembled acrylic, colored pencil, and watercolor illustrations from L?pez (The Year We Learned to Fly) incorporate vibrant hues, soft textures, and Mexican and Seminole influences. Creators’ notes and a recipe for grape dumplings conclude. Ages 4-8. Author’s agent: Gillian MacKenzie, Gillian MacKenzie Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel, Full Circle Literary. (Oct.) - Copyright 2025

School Library Journal - 10/24/2025 Gr 1–4—Incorporating, he writes in his afterword, settings, colors, and patterns evocative of both his Mexican background and the author's Seminole heritage, López (Fry Bread) depicts a bereft, brown-skinned child—mostly alone but with comforting adults nearby—wondering where his grandmother has gone and cherishing memories of her large, loving presence. The voice of Maillard's measured, lovely ruminations isn't particularly childlike, but the language is simple and the big feelings lingering between the restrained lines are universal. "Because of the magic of food,/ I travel through time," the narrator reflects, recalling her delicious grape dumplings, and, in a house that looks full but now seems empty, seeing her slippers still on the floor and the hair in her hairbrush, as if she had only just stepped out. "When they walk on," he observes, "they stay with us/ like the glimmer of a distant star." Ultimately the experience of loss draws out a larger insight, that "we are all walkers. We may walk long./ We may walk on trails of tears." But in the end "we all walk on…together." At the tail end, a recipe for grape dumplings sounds a final grace note. VERDICT Sensitive and sonorous, this loving remembrance is likely to affect adults as deeply as children.—John Peters - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.