Too Many Tamales

by Gary Soto, Ed Martinez (Illustrator)

Christmas Eve started out so perfectly for Maria. Snow had fallen and the streets glittered. Maria's favorite cousins were coming over and she got to help make the tamales for Christmas dinner. It was almost too good to be true when her mother left the kitchen for a moment and Maria got to try on her beautiful diamond ring . . .

This is the story of a treasure thought to be lost in a batch of tamales; of a desperate and funny attempt by Maria and her cousins to eat their way out of trouble; and the warm way a family pulls together to make it a perfect Christmas after all.

Genres: Picture Books, Christmas, Cultural, Childrens, Family, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Gary Soto is the author of eleven poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995 finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, including Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly, Poetry International, and Poetry, which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in the interview series Poets in Person. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. For ITVS, he produced the film “The Pool Party,” which received the 1993 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence. In 1997, because of his advocacy for reading, he was featured as NBC’s Person-of-the-Week. In 1999, he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty Crimes. He divides his time between Berkeley, California and his hometown of Fresno.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Christmas Eve, and the family is getting together. Maria is in the kitchen helping her mother make tamales for dinner, and she just can't resist trying on her mother's ring. Though this story seems less like a Christmas book, and more a lesson on telling the truth, it's pretty funny, and the illustrations by Ed Martinez are warm, inviting, and simply beautiful - particularly the facial expressions.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful family story, a special story about a young girl’s mistake and the funny and sweet and mature way everyone deals with it, and my kind of holiday story: one where the holiday itself is peripheral and therefore doesn’t make me melancholy. Also, it’s interesting to read about a different (for me) kind of Christmas tradition. It also doesn’t hurt that I love tamales and it was interesting to see this family make them – two batches as it turns out. So, it’s both amusing and heartfelt.

The illustrations are special. The expressions on everyone’s faces and the colors used are just perfect.

I love how both the children and adults respond, especially given that in real life things might have gone an entirely different way. Good parenting here, in my opinion. A child makes a mistake, thinking it’s worse than it is, goes to confess, sees that the situation is not so dire, and the adults are understanding and don’t scold but find a way to rectify the situation. Lovely!

It’s an atypical but excellent Christmas story, and it can be fully enjoyed all year long; there’s no need to wait for Christmas to enjoy this book.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first borrowed Too Many Tamales the librarian told me it was a really good and highly recommended it. He was absolutely right.

My son was so excited to read Too Many Tamales because tamales are his favorite food. The story was really cute and I could easily see one of my daughters doing something like Maria did.

The illustrations were pretty good and they looked pretty realistic.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story, as did my son. If you love tamales and want a good laugh you should read Too Many Tamales.
This review was originally posted on As Told By Tina

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one! I just love the warmth and humor in the illustrations and the story is so perfect in how it captures the inner turmoil of the girl and, gosh, it was so funny discovering why the title is "Too Many Tamales" ;-p I also just really appreciated the feeling of family and togetherness that the story brought, especially in the final scenes with everyone in the kitchen. It was also nice to see that the adults weren't too harsh on the girl, knowing she had already realized the error in her ways and that all was well. Definitely a heartwarming Christmas tale--though I certainly enjoyed it in May, too! :-)

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose to read this with my students (Kindergarteners) wanting primarily to expand their conception of what Christmas can look like within the traditions of different families. Soto & Martinez' story mirrored the experiences of my students (who are primarily white, middle/upper class) closely enough that they could recognize themselves in the images (Christmas tree, family and friends gathering together, preparing food for visitors, Christmas clothes, etc.) while also being asked them to include foods (tamales) and languages (Spanish) different than their own as rich and accepted pieces of some families' Christmas traditions.

I was really impressed by my students' response. When we read the book as a class, the kids were hugely engaged -- attentive, asking questions, making predictions, problem solving -- but, more importantly, they continued to engage the book individually and in small groups for the rest of the week. They asked visiting adults to reread the story to them, they told it to one another, and they had conversations with one another about what was going on in the text. I was very pleased, and I'm excited to continue building on their ideas of families, traditions, commonalities, and differences.

[Crystal Marcos · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first received the book the first thing I noticed was the expression on the childrens faces. One that I thought would be a priceless family photo if I owned it. I read the book to both my baby girl and my husband. The first thing I noticed looking at the illustrations was how dark they were. As I read on, those illustrations turned from being dark to warm to me. It reminded me of what it is like on a cold winters night with Christmas lights and maybe a warm fire lit near by. You don't have lots of lights on this time of year, it would distract from the tree. I also loved the story. It was cleverly written. I could see this possibly happening to my little girl or I could have done it myself when I was a child. I love jewelry! The faces in the illustrations of this book are very expressive. I found myself right there as a guest at Christmas time. When I was done reading the book, I looked up and my husband said "That was cute". It is a great story one I believe you would enjoy.(

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delighted at the opportunity to help her mother make tamales for their Christmas celebration, Maria - dressed up in her mother's apron, and wearing (by special permission!) some lipstick and perfume - is tempted to try on her mother's diamond ring. Caught up in the joy of the holiday, and the pleasure of participating in "adult" things, Maria forgets all about the ring, until she realizes it is missing! Now she and her cousins must eat ALL of the tamales, in the hopes of finding it...

A charming holiday tale, full of family warmth and Christmas cheer, Too Many Tamales paints a portrait of a tradition which may be new to many young readers. There is no mention of church, Santa Claus, or gift-giving, but although tamale-making may be an unfamiliar custom to some, the gathering of an obviously loving family is sure to strike a chord. I enjoyed this Christmas story, with its culturally specific Latino themes, and universally relevant story - haven't we all taken something we weren't supposed to, as children? - and was delighted with the beautiful artwork. Ed Martinez really does a wonderful job capturing the humor of the story, with his wonderfully expressive faces. I'm so glad the Picture-Book Club to which I belong, chose this as one of our May selections, in honor of "Latino Books Month!" Highly recommended!

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

The adults here are more patient than I am... I don't think that I'd have laughed after seeing the first batch of tamales effectively go to waste. Trying on the ring, not so bad... enlisting cousins to try to get away with it, very bad.

But, it's a funny story that happens at a family Christmas gathering, so good for those of us who respect but don't celebrate the holiday.

[AleJandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi hija dice que 24 tamales, no son muchos tamales.
😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those rare occasions where I read a book detailing the family traditions of a Mexican American family! “Too Many Tamales” is a children's book by Gary Soto along with illustrations by Ed Martinez and it is about a young girl named maria who was helping her mother make tamales for the Christmas dinner. Later on, Maria tried on her mother's precious ring while she was still making the tamales and when she met up with her cousins Dolores, Teresa and Danny, she realized that she left the ring in one of the tamales!

I just love this book! It is so cute and I love learning about various traditions from different cultures, so imagine my surprise when I have finally read a book detailing the traditions of a Mexican American family! Gary Soto has done an excellent job at providing both humor and drama in this story as Maria tries to find her mother's ring by convincing her cousins to help her eat all the tamales! Now, I do not if I can eat all those tamales myself, but I can imagine the desperation that Maria felt in losing her mother's prized possession. I really felt connected to Maria and her cousins as I often felt desperate when I actually broke or lost my parents' prized possessions and I tried everything in my power to get it back or risk the wrath of my parents! But it was heartwarming towards the end when Maria's mother does find out about the ring. I will not tell you what happened, but it truly was a beautiful moment between a mother and her daughter! I also love exploring other cultures, so this book was a wonderful experience for me in exploring a family tradition of a Mexican American family and I loved seeing the whole family come together for Christmas time. Ed Martinez's illustrations are gorgeous and colorful and I loved the way that Ed Martinez made each character look so realistic that I have often wondered if they were actually real life photos of a real family! I also loved how the surprised expressions on the children's faces were drawn as they were hilarious to look at and I always found myself laughing at their expressions!

Overall, “Too Many Tamales” is an extremely cute and wonderful book for children who enjoy learning about different cultures. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate about this book, unless the idea of eating too many tamales might you give you a stomachache

[(NS) Laura Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too Many Tamales was written by Gary Soto and illustrated by Ed Martinez. This book was published by The Putnam and Grosset Group in 1993. This book is about a young girl, Maria, and her cousins. Maria is fascinated by her mother’s wedding ring, and always wants to try it on. Maria’s mother leaves her wedding ring sitting on the kitchen table, so Maria decides to try it on. Shortly after she puts the ring on, she and her cousins begin making tamales for a holiday party. They have to knead the masa in order to prepare the tamales. The children finish making the tamales and go upstairs to play. This is when Maria realizes that she has lost her mother’s wedding ring. It was no longer on her finger, so she concludes that she has lost it in the masa of the tamales. All of the children decide to go down and eat all of the tamales that they had prepared for the party, in order to try and find the wedding ring. By the time the children are to the last tamale, they are stuffed and have not found the ring. When Maria decides to go tell her mother that she has lost the wedding ring, she sees the ring on her mother’s finger. The story ends with the whole family coming together to make another batch of tamales for the party.
This is a fun story that incorporates Mexican American culture into a book that teaches a valuable lesson. Students can learn about some of the history and traditions that Mexican Americans have. I would suggest using this story in the elementary classroom
Interest Level: Elementary School

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny story that demonstrates how some cousins come to the rescue when a little girl makes a big mistake.

Unfortunately, they could all have avoided an upset stomach if little Maria had just confessed her mistake to her mother right away, but in the end all is well.

The illustrations are fairly dark, but very expressive and we all enjoyed reading this book together at bedtime. Good Christmas story.

This story was selected as one of the books for the May 2010 - Latino reads at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[Colette Denali · Rating 5 out of 5]

A childhood favorite! In an extra special Bedtime Booktime session, I read “Too Many Tamales” aloud to Vanessa, my mom, and my dear friend Kwame on Christmas Eve.

This story was a family classic for me and my siblings when we were kids. Great plot!! As an adult, I particularly appreciate the illustrations’ detail of the kids’ facial expressions.

Often, returning to childhood favorites is a cringeworthy exercise - not this time!

[Srujan · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have been discussing how important it is to own our mistakes and how, instead of trying to cover them up, one should try and think of ways to make it right. And that, sometimes cover ups can land one in a bigger soup than one already is, by the virtue of a small mistake.

I picked this one because I found this book in one of those Christmas reading lists, and frankly, even though it isn't really about Christmas, I really enjoyed it for other reasons. Christmas is a minor detail of the story/plot. Young Maria is tempted to try on her mamma's diamond ring on her own finger and then mistakenly forgets it in the bowl of sticky masa they have been kneading to make tamales. Then, rather than admitting to her mom about the honest mistake, she and her cousina try to retrieve the ring buy gobbling up the prepared tamales, unknown to the adults. All in all, it became a great tool to discuss how sometimes owning up our mistakes is the first step to correcting it. We really liked reading this one. :)

[Megan Denney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maria and her mother are spending Christmas Eve in the kitchen making tamales. Marie loves being able to feel grown up as she helps her mom in the kitchen. She also loved feeling grown up about wearing her mother's diamond ring. When her mom slips out of the kitchen for a phone call Maria she thought she would just wear it for minute. She begin to kneed the dough with diamond ring on with the ring reappearing in the sticky dough each time she needed. When her mother returned, the mother, dad and Maria finished making the tamales. The doorbell rang to be Maria's cousins. When Maria and her cousins were playing Maria realized the diamond ring was no longer on her hand. She raced to the kitchen to realize it had to be in one of the tamales. She has her cousins help her eat the tamales and to let her know if they bite something crunchy. After eating 24 tamales the cousins and Maria did not find the ring. Maria did not know how she was going to tell her mother. When she went to go tell her mother, there sat the ring shinning on her mother's finger. The family all gathered in the kitchen to make a second batch of tamales.

I would read this book to my class during the holiday season to show different cultures and how they celebrate or in the use of a good connection lesson.

A teaching idea for this book is to use if for teaching connections. Students could either connect to the different traditions their family to on holidays or connecting to other books or times they have lost something important to them.

[Adam Zaobiedny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: Too Many Tamales
Author: Gary Soto
Illustrator: Ed Martinez
Publisher: The Putnam & Grosset Group
Year Originally Published: 1993 Approximate Interest Level / Reading Level: 2nd - 3rd grade

Gary Soto has written a touching story of a young girl named Maria who loses her mother’s wedding ring as she makes tamales for a holiday celebration during the Christmas season. Maria wears her mother's ring when her mother takes it off to start kneading the masa (dough) for the tamales. While she bakes, she loses the ring and Maria and her cousins have to eat the tamales to find the ring. The book is placed in a family setting and the characters are of Latino descent with traditional value systems, though the focus is not strongly placed on Maria's Hispanic identity.

In reference to illustration, Ed Martinez does a wonderful job of capturing the magic of the holidays with vivacious colors and also the plight of Maria and her cousins through use of great animated facial expressions as well. Overall, the message of the story is that although mistakes can be made, we can learn from our mistakes and also take comfort that others want to help us through them.

[Kaycee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too Many Tamales is the story of Maria Whois happy to be grown up and helping her mother and father make tamales for their Christmas dinner celebration. But she also is hoping to look even more grown up and wear her mother's diamond ring. Later when her cousins come over she realizes that the ring is gone and is afraid it fell into the tamale dough. Maria tries to solve the problem and find the ring, with the help of her cousins, but realizes that she will have to admit to her mother what happened. The story has Maria learning to admit her mistakes. The artwork is a little exaggerated in my opinion, at least with some of the facial expressions but it definitely gets the emotions of the characters across. The story is an entertaining look at one family's Christmas traditions as well as a story abound children learning to own up to their mistakes. This would be a good story to read aloud to children around Christmastime, especially when looking at how different cultures celebrate their holidays.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

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So Maria and her mother are making tamales for Christmas dinner and while she is helping her mother mix the masa together her mother leaves her ring on the counter. Maria really loves this ring so when she tries it on and loses it and doesn't realize it oh no. What can Maria do. While visiting with her cousins she remembers the ring and it is up to her and her cousins to find this ring. What will happen with the tamales as it has to be in there right?
This is a good story about telling the truth and remembering to not take things that do not belong to you unless you ask.
This is a holiday book but I think it is a good book to read whenever. I hope that when I read it to K he understood how Maria felt when she thought she lost something that was important to someone else and how you should tell the truth, even if it means you could be in trouble.
The illustrations are perfect and go great with the story being told.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think that the book is too stereotypical. For the most part there are a lot of women in the kitchen. I do not like this because it conveys a message to girls that they always have to be in the kitchen. At the end of the story there are only women making the tamales while the men are standing in the back. The book also contains stereotypical names and food items.
The book does convey accurate relationships between Hispanics because they are very family based. In the story aunts and uncles come over to visit the family for Christmas.

The main reason why I don't think that this is a good multicultural book is because there is no substantial information about Hispanic culture. They convey Hispanic culture in very stereotypical ways such as women in the kitchen and tamales. There is no deeper meaning to the story. Maria just finds a ring and that is then end of the story. I would not use this book in my classroom. There are no differences that the character experience.

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is the best time of the year; it is Christmas time! Maria, the main character of the story, is surrounded by her family on Christmas Eve which is when most Mexican families get together to celebrate Christmas with food and each others company. Maria's night takes an expected turn when she sees her mom's shiny, diamond ring, decides to try it on AND THEN helps makes tamales! What could go wrong?
I really enjoyed this story for the pictures were an amazing depiction on what goes on in the kitchen's of Mexican families during the holidays. The dresses that Maria and her cousins had on brought back itchy memories of having to wear those frilly dresses because it was a special occasion. Yet, having the dress on did not stop me from playing around and getting into sticky situations just like Maria did.
A great read to read during the holidays, or any other time of the year when you want to reminisce about the holidays with the family.

[Jacqueline Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a young girl named Maria who is helping to make Tamales, a traditional family dish during the holiday season. Maria tries on her mothers ring without permission and panics when she realizes it may be missing. In the end, her mother had the ring the whole time!
I liked this book. It was a wonderful multicultural book to use during the holiday season to discuss different traditions and foods that families may have at a holiday dinner. This book could also be used to discuss the importance of honesty and telling the truth.
I would read this book with along with other multicultural books that discuss holiday traditions and food. One example would be Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan.
A juicy quote from this book is "when her mother left the kitchen to answer the telephone, Maria couldn't help herself. She wiped her hands on her apron and looked back at the door." I like this quote because it adds suspense to the story.

[Jessica Harnish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is family story starring Maria and her cousins. They are together making tamales for Christmas Eve when Maria tries on her mother's diamond ring and believes it to have been baked in the tamales. Maria and her cousins get busy eating all of the tamales to find her mother's ring.

I thought this was such a funny family story that I could relate too. It sounds like something my cousins and I would do together. I enjoyed Maria's story of her family tradition of making tamales on Christmas Eve.

I would connect this book with I Love Saturdays y Domingos by Alma Flor Ada to share the story of another child who comes from the same background.

Quote: "Maria thought about the beautiful ring that was now sitting inside Danny's belly, and got ready to confess."

[Marcos Perez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too Many Tamales is a story that follows a young girl named Maria and her family. They decided to make some tamales before their extended family arrives for the holidays. As they are making the filling for the Tamales, Maria decides to put her mother’s wedding ring on and this causes an issue, because she accidentally loses the ring in the filling. Throughout the book her and her cousins try to find it without getting the adults involved, but long story short Maria had to tell her mother what she had done. Students may learn the importance of culture through this book and how honesty is could solve problems. My only problem with this book is that it doesn’t take time to develop the character on a deeper level. For me I didn’t necessarily feel bad for Maria losing the ring.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story that spans all cultures where disobedience has consequences that reach far.At the same time the punishment is bypassed by tender love and togetherness even in not overlooking the damages.

Gary Soto has a wonderful way of knitting his stories together and bringing out emotions whether vague or direct. You feel the warm harmony of family, the bright temporary attraction of a bauble and the struggle to finish an undesired task.

The illustrations are warm and realistic while helping to spin a wonderful story that will capture you over and over again.

[Carolina Musawwir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is Realistic Fiction but can also be classified as a Mystery.
With beautiful authentic illustrations, this story gives us a glimpse of a Latin family gathering for the holidays. This is not a very long and wordy book but the reader gets a lot from the face expressions and scenery, which is wonderful. I really enjoyed the tenderness and affection that emanates from the interactions between the characters. My English Language Learners loved this book since they identified with the characters and the setting. I recommend this book to grades 1-4.

[Andrea Salcedo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I remember reading this book as a child but it was nice to revisit this book after so long because I can honestly say I didn't remember the outcome. Also, I read this book this time around in spanish so it was interesting reading the choice in words he used. What I like the most about this book, was that I definitely had its relatable points such as, making tamales for christmas. This was a good book overall.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was relatable. Not everyone makes tamales, but lots of people get together with families and the younger ones "get into trouble" (try on and lose the ring) and try to find a way to get out of it before the adults find out. I found my self smiling and laughing reading this book. I would recommend this book to be enjoyed by young readers. This book would be a lot of fun in the classroom!

[RLL22016_Sandra Trujillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is rich in Mexican culture and how we celebrate Christmas Eve. It has beautiful illustrations that have great detail on what are tamales and how they are made. I feel that this story is wonderful for children because it has a moral to the story Maria the little girl loses a diamond ring in the batch of tamales she grabbed without asking. This book definitely knows how to keep the reader in suspense.

[M.K. Aneal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this story aloud for several classes I subbed for in Spanish. This is a fun book to read aloud, with many laughable and teachable moments. A moral story about just being honesty and doing the right thing (and how it'd keep you from eating too many tamales).

(Some kids thought "The Ring," would've been a better title. 😜💍)

Jesus loves you!
www.forJesusfirstlovedme.wordpress.com

~M.K.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book for several reasons.

It's great to have a Christmas book that shows other ways of celebrating Christmas.

The way the children and adults act is also praiseworthy. The kids band together to help, even though it's unpleasant. The adults are caring and understanding, but in a way that I could actually envision happening in real life instead of being a unrealistic paragons of kindness.