Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto, with illustrations from Ed Martinez, tells the heartwarming family tale of a humourous family mix-up on Christmas. The story focuses on Maria, a young girl who is excitedly helping her mother prepare a delicious family dinner for the holiday. Swelling with pride, Maria feels like a true adult as she makes Tamales for all her family to enjoy.
Giving readers a look into South American food, family, and culture Too Many Tamales is LitART approved for its engaging story arc. Teaching lessons about honesty and good times, the short picture book is an intermediate read perfect for the elementary age group. Maria tries on her Mother’s ring while cooking, and later realizes she can’t find it! Figuring it must have fallen into the Tamales, Maria, her sister, and her cousin eat every single Tamale there is in hopes of finding it, but to no avail. In the end, she must come clean to her Mother who lets her know she had the ring the whole time.
The whole family has a good laugh about the confusion, and readers will laugh as well. LitART looks to use books in our curriculum that are positive, challenging, and give young readers the opportunity to think about different perspectives. It is a great addition to the GO Global theme of our LITE Informational Text Explorations. LitART LITE themes feature collections of the best informational texts and comprehensive teacher and student learning guides and our Go Global theme helps readers discover the games, foods, music, and lifestyles of children and families from around the world. Check out more here!
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