TOO MANY TAMALES

By Gary Soto Illustrated by Ed Martinez

Image Credit: www.scholastic.com

1. Bibliography

Soto, Gary, and Ed Martinez. Too Many Tamales. New York: Putnam, 1993. Print. ISBN: 9780698114124

2. Plot Summary

Maria enjoys the Christmas celebration and especially helping her mother make tamales for the family. Maria's mother takes off her ring to knead the masa for the tamales and Maria slips the ring on for a moment. Maria kneads the masa again and again and doesn't think about the ring. Later that evening, Maria remembers the ring believes that the ring is now in the tamales. Instead of telling her mother, Maria gets her cousins to help her eat the tamales in hopes of finding the ring. 

3. Critical Analysis 

In TOO MANY TAMALES we see a family spending time together at Christmas and a child who learns that honesty is important. We also see father in the kitchen helping to make tamales for the big Christmas celebration which is not normal in many households. Gary Soto shows the importance of extended family and that cousins can have fun together. Children will enjoy the part where Maria thinks the ring is in the stomach of Danny. 

The illustrations by Ed Martinez are done in low light which makes the pictures feel warm and inviting like a Christmas evening spent with family and friends. Through the pictures we see pottery that looks similar to other pottery from Mexico. We also see people of Hispanic descent with dark hair and brown skin. Through the illustrations we are able to see the expressions on Maria's face including sadness when she has to tell her mother what happened. 

Cultural Markers present in this fictional story include making tamales for Christmas. Many of the characters in the story had names such as Maria, Teresa, and Rosa. These names are popular in the Hispanic culture. Only a few Spanish words were used in the story which includes masa and nina. Many children will know that this story is Hispanic Literature due to the fact of tamales being cooked for Christmas. Children will find this to be a wonderful read and we have to speculate how her mother had the ring all along. 

4. Review Experts

~ KIKUS (1993): "The whole family is coming for Christmas, so Maria and her parents are busy making tamales--Maria helps Mom knead the masa, and her father puts them in the pot to boil. While they're working, Maria secretly tries on Mom's diamond ring, then forgets about it until she's playing with her cousins. Since it's not on her thumb she's sure it's in a tamale, so the four cousins consume all 24 (with some difficulty) in hopes of finding it. No luck--the ring's on Mom's finger, after all. In this family, there's no scolding: Aunt Rosa says, "It looks like we all have to cook up another batch," and so they do, three generations laughing and working together. Soto's simple text is charmingly direct; he skips explanations, letting characters reveal themselves by what they do. Martinez's realistic, nicely composed paintings are glowing with light and life, while he reinforces the story with particularly expressive faces and gestures. This one should become a staple on the holiday menu."

~HORN BOOK (3/1994): "Maria tries on her mother's diamond ring while she helps her parents make tamales for Christmas dinner. Hours later, convinced that the ring fell off while she was kneading the masa, she and her three cousins eat all twenty-four of the increasingly less delicious tamales. Illustrated with rich oil paintings, the book offers a nonreligious glimpse into the celebration of Christmas in one affluent Latino household."

5. Connections

~ Students could write their own story of a possible mishap that has happened at a family gathering or holiday.

~Students could research about tamales and learn how to make them.

YUM! MmMm! QUE RICO! AMERICAS' SPROUTINGS

By Pat Mora Illustrated by Rafael Lopez

Image Credit: www.openlibrary.org

1. Bibliography

Mora, Pat, and Rafael López. Yum! Mmmm! Qué Rico!: Americas' Sproutings. New York: Lee & Low, 2007. Print. ISBN 9781584302711

2. Plot Summary

Pat Mora includes fourteen haikus for food that is eaten in various regions of the Americas. A side note is included for each food item that tells the reader where the origin of the food and some fun facts including how the food is used today.

3. Critical Analysis

Pat Mora introduces the readers to food that is used and enjoyed by many people. The poems are listed in alphabetical order starting with blueberries and ending with vanilla. Many of the haikus tell the reader what the food is used for. "Prickly Pear Red desert wonder. Cactus fruit becomes syrup and dulces. Surprise!" Mora includes a short section of information for each food. Children will be able to learn where the food is native from and how some of the items are used today. "Today the starch from corn kernels is used as a binder to help crayons and chalk hold together." 

Cultural markers that are present include the use of words including los dulces, la luna, and que rico through out the story. A glossary of these words is located at the beginning of the book so readers can become familiar with these words before reading the haikus. Young children will enjoy the short haikus while older children will enjoy reading the facts about the food. 

The illustrations are brightly colored with full pages which highlights the food haiku for that page. Many of the families and children in the illustrations look to be of Hispanic descent. Lopez includes a white child eating chocolate and an African American child with cranberries. We also see a Hispanic child eating tomatoes while his parents work the garden. Hispanic families eating pecans and corn tortillas is another cultural marker to show the importance of family. The landscapes include deserts, tropics, and houses such as a pueblo hut. 

4. Review Experts

~ SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (9/2007): "PreS-Gr 3-This concept book serves as a delicious introduction to 14 types of food, all of which have their origins in the Americas. Snippets of information and a haiku poem accompany each one, ranging from blueberry and chili pepper through papaya, prickly pear, and vanilla. Using English and a smattering of Spanish words, Mora crafts a playful introduction to each one, as in "Pumpkin": "Under round luna,/scattered tumblings down the rows,/autumn's orange face." The sense of whimsy is further underscored in L-pez's colorful acrylic on wood-panel illustrations. Artful compositions and brilliant complementary colors bear out the book's multicultural themes. The art conveys an infectious sense of fun, as smiling suns and moons beam down upon happy children and animals, along with a trumpet-wielding peanut-butter sandwich and a dancing pineapple. Teachers will find this a welcome addition to their social-studies units, but it should also win a broad general audience for its inventive, fun-filled approach to an ever-popular topic: food."

~KIRKUS (9/2007): "Haiku celebrating the diversity of edible plants native to the Americas--blueberries, chocolate, prickly pears, pecans and more. Each spread includes an informative paragraph explaining the probable origin, history and some trivia for the plant described in the poem. (The word pecan, for example, comes from a French word meaning, "nut to be cracked on a rock.") Lopez's vibrant, folklorish illustrations make the book a visual feast, but the haikus are uneven. Some (Chiles: "Dad bites green mouth-fire / laughs when tears fill his eyes, sighs / 'Mmmm! This heat tastes good' ") evoke the essence of their subject; others (Potato: Underground magic. / Peel brown bundle, mash, pile high. / Salt and pepper clouds) are just confusing. More interesting as social science than as poetry, but visually gorgeous."

5. Connections

~Older students could write their own haiku of their favorite food.

~Students could choose a favorite food listed in this book and research more about the food item.

MICE AND BEANS

By Pam Munoz Ryan Illustrated by Joe Cepeda

Image Credit: www.scholastic.com

1. Bibliography

Ryan, Pam Muñoz., and Joe Cepeda. Mice and Beans. New York: Scholastic, 2001. Print. ISBN 9780439183031

2. Plot Summary
Rosa Maria's granddaughter will be turning seven within a few days. Rosa makes a list of things she needs to do to prepare for the celebration she will be hosting at her home. For several days Rosa completes many task on the list and sets a new mouse trap each evening because the old ones keep disappearing. This makes her think she is forgetful. She remembers during the party that she forgot to fill the pinata with candy. When her granddaughter hits the pinata and candy falls to the floor, Rosa realizes that she had helpers all along.

3. Critical Analysis
MICE AND BEANS is a fictional story that reveals a Hispanic birthday celebration for a young child. Rosa Maria is a caring grandmother who wants to make sure her granddaughter has the best birthday. Children will love the repeating theme of "She hurried to the cupboard to fetch another and when it was set and ready to SNAP, she turned off the light and went to bed." The story line is enlightening because Rosa Maria always thinks she forgot to set the mouse trap when we really know that the mice took the trap away. At the end we learn that Rosa had the saying from her mother completely wrong. The real saying was "When there's room in the heart, there's room in the house...even for a mouse."

Many cultural markers are present in the story including the dialect, celebrations, and family. Throughout the story the readers are exposed to many Spanish words such as "No importa," "bolsa," and many more. Pam Munoz Ryan includes a glossary and pronunciation guide at the end of the story. Many children will be able to use context clues to discovery the meaning of the word. The glossary is helpful to confirm the meaning of the words. For the celebration we see the use of a pinata which is found in traditional Hispanic celebrations. We also see the family eating enchiladas, rice, and beans which is traditional Hispanic food.

The illustrations by Joe Cepeda are full page with bright colors. We see Rosa as a grandmother who wears a dress and apron throughout the story. The illustrator gave Rosa yellow hair which is not traditional for this culture. Children will enjoy the pictures that are from the mice's view of the story. The children will also enjoy viewing the activities of the mice.

4. Review Experts
~BOOKLIST (9/2001): "Ages 4-7. It's time for Little Catalina's seventh birthday, and grandmother Rosa Maria is ready to celebrate. She has room in her heart and her casita for nearly everyone on this happy occasion--everyone except mice. Grandmother sees to the details, from food to fun. But she forgets to fill the empty pinata, and when she discovers that mice have filled it for her, she opens a place in her joyful heart just for them. The story is charming, but what makes it special is the quiet authenticity of the Hispanic characterizations. Cepeda's pictures are as good as the story, with bright, funny scenes depicted from human (looking down) and mouse (looking up) points of view. A delightful birthday or anytime book."

~SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (10/2001): "K-Gr 2-As a loving grandmother prepares for her youngest grandchild's seventh birthday, the smallest residents of her casita follow her through each successive weekday, taking the necessities for their own celebration and watching over her. The energetic Rosa Maria is a loving, unselfish, and hardworking woman, but her forgetfulness allows her to attribute missing items to her own behavior. The text, interspersed with Spanish expressions, appears on vivid full-page illustrations, creatively drawn from a mouse's perspective. This imaginative and artistic book combines richly colored and angled illustrations with a variety of text fonts and sizes. Cepeda adds detail and expression to the smallest objects and inhabitants of Rosa Maria's casita-even the turkey pinata seems alive. A treat for young listeners."

5. Connections
~Students could write about their own birthday celebration after reading this story.

~Students could discuss the importance of family including how grandparents can pass down traditions to younger generations.