Too Many Tamales

Review of Too Many Tamales

A book written by Gary Soto

A. Book Information

Soto, Gary. Illus. by Martinez, Ed. 1993. New York, NY: G.P. Putnum’s Sons. ISBN 0-399-22146-8

B. Plot Summary

It is Christmas-time, and in preparation Maria and her mother are making a large batch of tamales for the family that is coming to visit. Maria admires her mother and feels grown-up wearing her apron, perfume, and lipstick. When Maria’s mother sets down her sparkly diamond ring, the temptation is too much for Maria. She slips it on and continues to work, making the tamales as her mother comes back into the room. When Maria’s family comes, she and her cousins head to her room to play and dream of presents. It is then that she remembers her mother’s ring. With frantic desperation Maria orders her cousins to eat the tamales and let her know if they bite into something hard. After all 24 tamales are eaten and distended bellies have resulted, Maria is tearful and shamefully admits to her mother what she has done. It turns out that Maria’s mother has had the ring all along!

C. Critical ANal

The nice thing about this book is the actualization that there are Mexican-American families that are not poor, who are not migrant workers, and are in fact, living the American dream with a nice house and good family celebrations. Aside from the title, Too Many Tamales, and the inclusion of about three Spanish words (masa, nina, tamale), the fact that this takes place in a Mexican-American household is secondary to the story of a young girl who faces the dilemma of finding her mother’s ring that she presumably misplaced in one of the 24 tamales!

Despite the lack of overt, cliché Mexican symbolism this book authentically depicts a Mexican-American family enjoying a simple holiday tradition, the making of a traditional meal and conversation among family.

The illustrations show a lighter-skinned Mexican family, dressed nicely for a holiday like most American families--which may be a little disappointing. Why can’t dark-skinned Mexicans be depicted in such a normal family setting?

This book is easily shared with children of all races because of its universality. The tamales could easily be replaced by sugar cookies or any number of foods and the theme of familial love remains.

D. Review Excerpts

Amazon.com
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

From Publishers Weekly
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.

Reviews accessed at:

http://www.amazon.com/Too-Many-Tamales-Gary-Soto/dp/0698114124/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-4975783-8457705?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183247705&sr=8-2E. Connections

E. Connections

Other books for young people by Gary Soto:

· Baseball in April and Other Stories. ISBN 0152025677

· Chato and the Party Animals. ISBN 0142400327

· Chato Goes Cruisin'. ISBN 0142408107

· The Old Man and His Door. ISBN 0698116542