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Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto
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Too Many Tamales

by Gary Soto

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Too Many Tamales is a story about a hispanic girl who wears her mothers ring while making Christmas tamales and thinks she has lost it in the dough. This story does not center on the cultural identity, but it does include things such as tamales that give a glimpse into what Christmas may be like.

This was a very cute story with wonderful illustrations and I enjoyed it very much. It is a story of compassion and mischieviousness, and family all things that make up the holidays. I think that all children would like this book, mainly as a read aloud book for young and old students.

This book would be helpful in a multicultural education day, that would include hispanics and what they eat. Also, it would be great for a lesson on differences and what ways Maria's family celebration of their holiday varies from students in the class. Also, I may have them draw a picture of their favorite holiday memory or food, as a filler for party day before the holiday.
  mel2209 | Nov 20, 2009 |
This book was about a Hispanic girl, Maria who lost her mother's ring. Maria was helping make tamales when she tried on her mother's ring and forgot about it. Later that night she realized she didn't have it on anymore and was in hysterics because the ring was in the tamales. Her cousins helped her look for the ring, without any luck.

My daughter asked me to read this book to her without looking at the picture on the book. I opened it up and she said "Oh this is about the girl loosing the ring!" She had already heard it, but I read it to her anyways and I really enjoyed this book. It was funny how she and her cousins looked for the ring. The illustrations in this book really make you feel as if you are standing there with Maria and feeling exactly what she is feeling by her facial expressions.

I would read this to my class at Christmas time. I would teach them the song "Feliz Navidad." I would also have my class learn how to make tamales and already have some made so they could have them for a snack.
  sandiwilliams | Oct 24, 2009 |
This book is about a family during Christmas time, making tamales. The mother and daughter were making the dough for the tamales and the mother put her ring on the counter. The daughter saw how beautiful it was and how it had such a sparkle, she tried it on. Then she returned to kneading the dought with her hands and the ring was mixed into the dough. Other family members arrived at the house and exchanged gifts while the daughter had forgotten all about her mothers ring. The daughter and her cousins were all nervous and scared about the ring so, when the tamales were done all kids ate the tamales and tried to feel something hard. When all 24 tamales were gone, no ring. When the girl was walking to her mother to confess to her she noticed the ring was on her hand. The family returned to the kitchen happily and making jokes to make more tamales.

This book is great for children who have a Hispanic background or for children who have large families. The illustrations and color of the book really caught my eye.

In a classroom, this book would relate to children with the Hispanic ethnic and for the children who are not exposed to this type of culture, we could have a culture day and learn about the different kinds of culture and even have food from the cultures.
  eal_04 | Sep 30, 2009 |
Maria is so happy that her mother let her war her apron and is letting her help to knead the masa for the Christmas corn tamales. When her mother takes off her diamond ring so it won't become coated with the messy masa, Maria decides to put it on. Later that night, after all the tamales have been cooked and after all her cousins and relatives have arrived, that Maria suddenly realizes what must have happened to the precious ring. Maria desperatly tries to make her family memebers eat as much as they can to find the ring.
  jgbyers | Sep 22, 2009 |
AR 3.4, 0.5 points. I love this story!
  johnskam | Jul 30, 2009 |
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Amazon.com (ISBN 0590226509, Paperback)

Maria is feeling so grown-up, wearing her mother's apron and helping to knead the masa for the Christmas corn tamales. Her mother even let Maria wear some perfume and lipstick for the big family celebration that evening. When her mother takes off her diamond ring so it won't become coated with the messy masa, Maria decides that life would be perfect if she could wear the ring, too. Trouble begins when she sneakily slips the sparkly ring on her thumb and resumes her kneading. Uh oh. It is not until later that night, after all the tamales have been cooked and after all her cousins and relatives have arrived, that Maria suddenly realizes what must have happened to the precious ring. Ed Martinez's warm oil paintings celebrate the riches of South American Christmas colors--adobe reds, dusty gold, lacey whites, and rain-forest greens. Martinez also has a gift for capturing children's animated expressions, especially when Maria begs her cousins to help her find the missing ring by secretly eating the enormous stack of steaming tamales! Gary Soto's delightful Christmas-spirit closure will relieve young readers who empathize with the negligent Maria. Grown-ups, too, will appreciate this playful reminder about the virtues of forgiveness and family togetherness. (Ages 4 and older) --Gail Hudson

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:56 -0400)

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