Saturday, November 1, 2008

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto, illus. by Ed Martinez


Feliz Navidad! I hope you will agree that November 1 is not too soon for me to begin sharing my Christmas books! Today I thought of Too Many Tamales because my daughter is sampling some tamales at a Day of the Dead party.

This charming story tells about Maria, a little girl who helps her mother make tamales for their family Christmas party. The daughter, who had tried on her mother's wedding ring in the cooking process, discovers (after the tamales are all prepared) that the ring is missing! What will she do? Enlisting her young cousins' help, the children begin eating the tamales, one by one. Do they find the ring in the tamales? Find out when you read this charming tale about loving family tradition, the innocence of childhood mistakes, and the gentleness with which a mother handles the problem. I love this story!

(New York: PaperStar/Putnam & Grosset, 1996)

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