One of the most charming children's stories I have ever read is Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto.
Product Details
- Reading level: Ages 4-8
- Paperback: 32 pages
- Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (August 8, 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0698114124
- ISBN-13: 978-0698114128
Amazon.com Review
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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Snow is falling, preparations for a family feast are underway and the air is thick with excitement. Maria is making tamales, kneading the masa and feeling grown-up. All she wants is a chance to wear her mother's diamond ring, which sparkles temptingly on the kitchen counter. When her mother steps away, Maria seizes her opportunity and dons the ring, then carries on with her work. Only later, when the tamales are cooled and a circle of cousins gathered, does Maria remember the diamond. She and the cousins search every tamale--with their teeth. Of course the ring turns out to be safely on Mom's finger. Soto, noted for such fiction as Baseball in April , confers some pleasing touches--a tear on Maria's finger resembles a diamond; he allows the celebrants a Hispanic identity without making it the main focus of the text--but overall the plot is too sentimental (and owes a major debt to an I Love Lucy episode). Martinez's sensuous oil paintings in deep earth tones conjure up a sense of family unity and the warmth of holidays. The children's expressions are deftly rendered--especially when they are faced with a second batch of tamales. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1993
Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
About The Author:
Born in Fresno, California to Mexican-American parents, Gary Soto learned the hard work ethic through his share of chores, including mowing lawns, picking grapes, painting house numbers on street curbs, and washing cars. His hard work paid off at California State University at Fresno, from which he graduated with an English degree, and later at the
University of California at Irvine, where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.Gary Soto is an acclaimed poet, essayist, and fiction writer. The awards for this multi-talented author are many, ranging from the
U.S. Award for International Poetry Forum in 1977 for his first published book of poetry, The
Elements of San Joaquin, to a Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award in 1985 for
Living Up the Street, his first published work of prose recollections. His
short story collection Baseball in April, was named an American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults. In 1993 Gary Soto received the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video for
Pool Party, and in 1995 he was nominated for a National Book Award.His other credits include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the California Arts Council. Gary Soto is also one of the youngest poets to appear in the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. Several of his books have been translated into French, Spanish and Italian.Too Many Tamales was named a Booklist Books for Youth Editors' Choices of 1993. Hazel Rochman of Booklist said, "Gary Soto is an accomplished poet and adult writer, and his children's stories are widely popular. His first entry into the picture book genre is a joyful success."When he is not writing, Mr. Soto serves as a volunteer English teacher at his church. He also enjoys eating at new restaurants, which he does often with his wife, Carolyn, and their daughter Mariko. Other members of the Soto household include their two cats, Corky and Sharkie. The Soto family resides in Berkeley, California.
About the Book:
What I especially like about this book are the wonderful, warm illustrations of family gathering together for Christmas. Plus, the winning combination of the author's message of a child's deep feeling of shame and confession when Maria believes her mom's diamond wedding ring, that she has taken without permission, might be inside one of the tamales she helped make. How the main character, Maria resolves her problem is funny and although the happy ending is a bit predictable, still you will not want to put this book down. The story line just flows and you feel as though you yourself are a part of Maria's family at this special holiday gathering with the preparation of making delicious tamales.
This book is definitely worth buying and reading.
Too Many Tamales
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