Too Many Tamales

Written by Gary Soto

Narrated by Blanca Camacho

Everyone is coming for Christmas dinner at Maria’s house. She and her mother prepare by kneading the "masa" to make tamales. When her mother takes off the ring, Maria tries it on—and is beside herself, when hours later, she thinks it has been kneaded into the tamales. How many can you eat?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Weston Woods
• Release date: Jan 1, 2001
• ISBN: 9780545787468

Gary Soto

Gary Soto is a National Book Award finalist and a recipient of the Andrew Carnegie Medal, the Hispanic Heritage Award for Literature, the Tomás Rivera Book Award, the NEA Author-Illustrator Civil Rights Award, the California Library Association’s Beatty Award, and the PEN Center West Book Award. He lives in Northern California.

Reviews for Too Many Tamales

[gizellecardiel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Summary Of Book: This book is about a Hispanic family making tamales for their family during Christmas. Maria and her mother are making Tamales together and she feels like a grown up. Her mother takes off her ring while she is mixing the tamale masa up and Maria slips it on while she isn't looking. She loses the ring in the masa and is terrified that it is baked into the tamales. Her and her cousins decide the only way to find the ring is to eat all of the tamales. 24 tamales later, they can't find the ring anywhere and Maria is afraid her little cousin swallowed it and it's lost forever. She goes to tell her mother and sees that her mother is wearing the ring and is relieved. Since all the tamales are eaten, her entire family goes into the kitchen to make more and have a wonderful Christmas.Personal Reaction: I liked this book because it reminded me of Christmases that my family would have together. We would also get together every year and make tamales just like Maria and her family did. Maria loved to make tamales with her mother and father and it shows a tradition of them doing it together. I think it's important for children to be included in these traditions. I remember it making me feel like I was part of something bigger. It was very special. Extension ideas:1. I would ask the children if they had any traditions in their homes and have them write me a story about their families traditions2. I would have the children get with their parents and write down some of their favorite recipes so that we could bind them in a book for the whole class. 3. I would ask the children if they wanted to start any new traditions with their family every year and have them write them in a letter to their family.

[hellwanger-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a story of Maria, and finally being old enough to help her mother make the tamales for Christmas. She feels so important wearing mother's perfume and apron, and then she sees mother's wedding ring. After all the tamales are made, she remembers her mother's ring fell in the masa and with the help of her cousins, they eat all the tamales looking for the ring. They find out the the ring didn't make it into any of the tamales in the first place, but her family is understanding of the trouble they caused. This could lead the way to have a small food day at school, with each student bringing something culturally important to them to share. You could also take the time to discuss any traditions that the students may have with their families and what they mean to the student.

[ashewert · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book tells the story of a hispanic family who is making Tamales for a family Christmas celebration. In the mist of making the Tamales, the young girl tries on her mothers ring and thinks that the ring gets baked into the tamales, but thats not the case!This book introduces readers to the hispanic culture through the use of Spanish words mixed into the story. This book would also provide children with insight on a tradition in the hispanic culture during the holidays and would provide them the opportunity to compare to their own family's holiday traditions.

[jenica_flores-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Maria helps her mother make the tamales that her and her family will be eating for their traditional Christmas dinner. As her mother walks away she notices her mothers wedding ring and tries it on. When they finish making the tamales maria realizes she lost the ring so she ask her cousins to help her eat them. They don't find the ring and when she goes to tell her mother what she has done she notices it on her mothers hand. This is a great book to incorporate in your lesson if you're teaching your students about culture/traditions.

[librarybird08 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Maria is helping to make tamales for Christmas dinner when she decides to try on her mother's wedding ring. When the tamales are done it is discovered that the wedding ring is missing.

[calabrom2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a book I read to my class when I was student teaching in a 3rd grade classroom. This is a cute story about Maria and how she looses her mothers ring and a family tradition of making tamales.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Illustrated by Ed Martinez

Maria’s family is getting ready for Christmas. When her mother goes to answer the phone, Maria gives into temptation and tries on her mother’s diamond ring. It’s so sparkly and she feels like a princess! She doesn’t notice that it has slipped off her finger and into the masa she is kneading.

There are several things about this story that I really like. First, the illustrations clearly show that the family lives in a northern climate where it snows for Christmas. Theirs is a lovely home with wreaths in the windows, and a large Christmas tree. Maria’s bedroom is every little girl’s dream. I also like the closeness of the family – not just the immediate nuclear family of Maria and her parents, but the extended family including grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins. And I like Maria’s character. When she realizes what must have happened to the ring, Maria organizes her cousins to try to solve the problem themselves. She still goes to her mother to confess and she learns her lesson.

It’s a lovely story that parents and children – whether Hispanic or not – will enjoy.

[pussreboots · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto is about family and cooking tamales. Maria is helping make tamales for a family get together. Her mother has let her try on her wedding ring but Maria has to promise not to wear it while cooking!After all the tamales are finished, Maria wants to wear the wedding ring again but it's missing! Assuming the worst, she and the other children set down to eating all the tamales until they find the ring.You can imagine what happens next. But this story is also about family and it has a happy ending, although one with belly aches for the children.Ed Martinez's paintings bring the children to life. Their expressions are exactly what you'd expect given the apparent gravity of the situation.It was recommended to me by my daughter, who read it in school.

[lbrink2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I like this book for several reasons. One reason I like this book is the illustrations. Each illustration is very detailed and goes along with the text that is one the same page. Every time the mother's ring is mentioned, there is a clear visual of the ring in the illustration. I also like how the illustrations take up most of the pages. Another reason why I like this book is the plot. When Maria noticed the ring was gone she did not go tell her mother, but instead, wanted to fix the problem with the help of her cousins. This is very relate-able because many young children do not tell their parents when they have done something wrong because they are afraid they will get in trouble. The main message of this book is to go to your parents when you think you have done something wrong because they are there to help you.

[timothyototivo77 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Summary:A young Hispanic girl is enjoying time with her family during the holidays, but while preparing tamales with her mother, drama ensues when she supposedly loses her mother's ring during cooking time. Personal Reaction:This brought me back to when I would help my family cook during the holidays, not exactly losing jewelry but the fun close knit feeling everyone had. Classroom Extension:Maybe have a day exploring multicultural foods prepared by students and their families.

[jihan0228 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Maria and her mother are in the kitchen making tamales for the Christmas family get together, when all of a sudden the phone rings. Her mother leaves the kitchen to answer the phone, Maria sees the ring and decides to try on her mother's wedding ring. The ring is to big so she puts it on her thumb. Panic ensues when hours have past and Maria realizes the ring is missing! When guests finally begin to show up, Maria asks her cousins to help her find the ring. The four begin to all the tamales. What has become of the ring? Do they find it in the tamales? Has cousin Danny swallow the ring? This is a warm family story that is interesting to read. A classroom extension for this book; have students write their own story about the way their family celebrates holidays with a special food, or find a recipe on how to make tamales. Another great idea is to use play dough and make tamale shaped tamales, use them as a math problem solving game.

[camilleschmidt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: It’s Christmas day and Maria and her mother are preparing a traditional Mexican American dinner, tamales. Since it is Christmas, Maria’s mother lets her help. She even gets to wear make-up and an apron. She is feeling so grown up, so she tries on her mother’s wedding ring to top it off. She continues mixing the masa with her hands when the rest of the family shows up for the holidays. Her mom finishes the tamales while she goes to play with her cousins. Some time goes by when Maria notices that she’s not wearing the ring anymore. Assuming it’s been cooked into the tamales, her and her cousins eat the entire batch trying to find it. After they are all gone and everyone is sick from eating too much, the youngest cousin admits he may have swallowed the ring. Maria works up the courage to tell her mother only to find her mother has had the ring the whole time. With all the food gone, the entire family goes to the kitchen to make a second batch or tamales. Personal Experience: When I was in the first grade, my father was in the military. Most of the men he was stationed with at the time were Mexican American. That Christmas we spent at one of their house. I had a great friend there named Marie. I remember thinking it was so wonderful how they didn’t have ham or turkey for dinner like we usually did at Christmas time. They had tons of tamales and Menudo. When I read this to my son, I told him that story. We also talked about how every family has their own holiday traditions. Classroom Extension Ideas:1.)I would read this around Christmas time. The students and I would have a discussion about something their families do around Christmas time. Then I would have them write some of it down and draw a picture to go with it. Then it would be fun to put all of them together in a printed book as a gift to their families.2.)I could ask the students to tell me about a time that they felt really grown up and helpful like Maria did before she borrowed her mother’s ring.3.)If Maria hadn’t borrowed her mother’s ring without her permission or at least told her when it was lost, her and her cousins wouldn’t have had to eat all of those tamales. She also would have saved herself some worry. Among other things, this book shows the importance of being honest. I could ask the students if they can tell where Maria went wrong and what were the consequences? Then ask, “What would you have done if you were Maria?”

[nmhale_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful Christmas picture book, with a slightly different emphasis than many other books on the subject. In this story, Maria is making tamales with her mother, a Christmas tradition very common among Hispanic families in the southwest (where I live). Her mother leaves the room for a moment, and Maria's eyes are drawn to the diamond ring her mother left on the counter. She can't resist, and tries the lovely jewelry on her own hand, admiring its shine; but when her mama returns, Maria forgets she is wearing the ring, and starts kneading the masa. The ring is pulled off by the dough, and Maria happily leaves the room to welcome her arriving family.Maria enjoys playing with her cousins, but when something reminds her of the ring she dashes back to the kitchen, her three cousins in tow. After looking everywhere, to no success, Maria comes to the inevitable conclusion: the ring must have been cooked in a tamale! She enlists her cousins' help to eat through the tamales in search of the ring. At first, the job is enjoyable, but soon their bellies are full and they still haven't found the ring. After eating all the tamales, with still no ring in sight, the children believe it must be in someone's stomach. But when Maria is ready to confess to her mama, she finds a surprise - the ring is on her mom's finger. The adults laughingly console the children, and then the whole family makes new tamales together.The story is sweet and funny, with a plucky heroine and a lovely tone of Christmas comfort and tender family memories. The text is well written, and the illustrations are warm and comic. I particularly like this book because it explores the Christmas traditions typical for Mexican American families, in an organic story that presents the customs in a natural setting, instead of noting them as peculiar or strange. I want to teach my children, and my self, an appreciation of diversity and cultures different from our own, and this book is a wonderful way to learn about other cultures while recognizing the similarities that bind us all together. Plus, it's just a fun story! This book deserves a lot more attention than it receives.

[andymcclellan_93 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book because it reminded me of how big a role food plays in my own family as well as the fact that is okay to make mistakes, an important thing for students to remember.

[emilyann93 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is about young Maria who tries on her mother's ring and thinks she has lost it. When making the tamales, her and her cousins eat all of the tamales and they still can not find her mother's ring. One of her cousin's thinks he might have swallowed something hard. They are all panicking, and Maria doesn't know how to tell her mother she has misplaced her ring. Maria notices the ring on her mother's finger and shows a sign of relieve. Now that all the tamales are gone, they must make more.

[mnorth2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary:This book is about Christmas time. A Christmas time unlike a Christmas, us Americans are familiar with. Maria, a young girl is helping her mother make tamales for Christmas dinner.All of the sudden when she is rolling out the dough for the tamales, she notices that she has lost her mothers ring in the dough! Review: I liked this book because i find it so interesting to hear about other cultures customs and traditions. The author wrote in a very sweet way and i absolutely loved the illustrations.

[mooste2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book for a couple of reasons. One reason is that is based of the Hispanic culture and children that are hispanic can relate to the food, tamales, and can connect with the book. The plot of the story also pulled the reader in. When the ring gets lost in the tamales the reader wants to know what is going to happen next and if the ring is going to be found. This is suspenseful for children and lets them use their imagination to think of ideas of where the ring could have gone. The pictures also show the emotions of the characters in the book. When the children come to the conclusion that the ring may be in the tamales you can tell by their eyes being wide and the shocked look on their face that they don't know what to do. The book also teaches children the lesson that although accidents may happen, family and teamwork can solve the problem and what might seem like a big issue isn't that big in the scheme of things.

[rrossi1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Maria spotted her mother's ring one day, and decided that she must try it on. The ring was lost in a matter of minutes. It fell into the tamale dough. She and her cousins decide to eat all 24 tamales to find the ring. At the end, it is revealed that the mother had the ring the whole time. This can show children that they should take great care when handling something valuable that is not their own possession.

[ewestr1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked reading this book. I loved the illustrations and I liked how the author went about telling his story. The illustrations were very colorful and detailed. The illustrations seemed so lifelike to me and that made this story so much more believable to me. I liked how the author starts this story off as a happy holiday story where Maria and her mother were happily making tamales together for their family Christmas get together. This happy story turns into a little bit of chaos when Maria loses her mothers ring. The author's main purpose of his story was not only to show how a family celebrates Christmas, but also really to show growing up and how family is always there for one another. Maria's family is able to help her search for the ring by eating all of the tamales to see if it was in there. Maria comes to reality that she may have lost the ring and confesses to her mother that she had in fact lost it. Though the ring was actually found, it took a great deal of responsibility for Maria to confess that to her mother. Her family comes back together at the end fortunately to enjoy making tamales and enjoying their holiday together.

[marissawilliams-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Summary:This is the story of a young girl that is helping her mother make a batch of tamales for the family. Her mom takes of her wedding ring to knead the dough. When the phone rings, she goes to answer it and leaves the ring. The girl puts on her mothers ring and continues to knead the dough. Later, she realizes she lost the ring. She and her cousins ate both batches of tamales searching for the tamales and never found it. They came to the conclusion that one of the boys had eaten it. Come to find out, her mother had found the ring and put it back on her finger.Personal Reaction:This is a great book to teach ids to do the right thing. It also shows that you can't get anything past your parents. I also think this book shows a good insight into the Hispanic culture. Some Spanish words are incorporated, and their meanings are obvious teaching kids a little bit of a new language.Classroom Extension Ideas:1. Have the class share a family recipe with the class that is culturally related.2. Let students come up with their own traditions they would like to start for their own family.

[chelz517-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Too Many Tamales is a cute and fun story about a a little girl who is helping her mom make tamales for her family and she thinks that her mothers beloved ring fell in the tamale mixture! The book is all about funny mishaps that could happen within your family, but the author is giving you an insight into a different cultures tradition during the holidays. This is a wonderful book for teachers and families to have in their collection because it allows your child/student to be able to see how other people may celebrate their holidays and their own traditions that they may have.

[kharri34 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are several reasons why I enjoyed this book. First, I liked this book for the entertaining plot. For example, it was very entertaining that the four cousins ate 24 tamales all by themselves in order to find the missing ring. In addition, I liked that the characters were very believable. For instance, I thought that it was very believable that the main character would think that they had to eat all of the tamales to find the ring rather than tell her mother that she lost her ring. The big idea of this book is that families understand when you mistakes and are willing to help you when you need it.

[katiebrennan-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this story. Although the book is multicultural and the main character is Spanish, I am able to relate to her. Just like the main character, I have taken something from someone that I admired and lost it by accident. Also, the illustrations were realistic and detailed which made the story come to life. Because the illustrator includes a picture of tamales, the reader is able to better understand and connect with the story if he or she does not know what a tamale is. The message of this story is to not take what does not belong to you and to always tell the truth.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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!

[derekhendricks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Summary: On Christmas night, Maria and her parents were making tamales for her and her family that was coming over for Christmas dinner. Maria felt so grown up that when her mom left the kitchen, she wanted to wear her ring. The she ended up losing it, her family shows up to eat. Maria and her cousins realized what happened, so they quietly went down to look into the food.Personal Reactions: Thought it was a well written book about a multicultural family. Great way of saying that a kid feels like a grown up when cooking with their parents.Classroom extensions: Have the kids say what they do when they help their parents in the kitchen. Maybe bring in their favorite dish that they help make with their parents.

[laceyjo10 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Review: This book gives a very believable look at a Hispanic family and their traditions around Christmas. Children no matter what culture will still get into mischief and cause problems, and in this tale, the way a family reacts can really impact the life of the child. Humor and and a well developed plot line, make this story a great one to share with children!Genre: This book is an excellent example of realistic fiction, although fictional, all characters are believable and have events happen to them that would happen in real life. I especially like the main plot focus of Maria's mishap with her mom's ring. This life experience of thinking you have lost something valuable that is not yours is a universal theme that the reader will be able to relate with. As well, the cousins' child-like solution to the problem, eating all the tamales, is a humorous one that will cause the reader to be endeared to the characters in this tale.

[cassie2lee2irwin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Genre: Realistic FictionReview: This realistic fiction books does a great job of relating to real life event though the people and occurrences are not real. Maria and her mother were making tamales for their family dinner later that night when she dropped her mothers ring into the tamales. Her and her cousins ended up eating all of the tamales trying to find the ring. Even though this is a fictional story it is very easy to see how it can connect to real life, this makes students love it.Media: AcrylicPlot: The author does a great job with the plot of this story. The beginning starts out introducing the characters and the setting. Then the rising action happens when Maria decides she wants to play with her mothers ring and then looses it in the tamale mix. The climax is quite long for this story, it lasts from the time that Maria realizes that she no longer has the ring all the way through the children eating all of the tamales. We finally get the resolution when Maria tells her mother what happened and we find out that her mother has had the ring the whole time. The family then makes the second batch of tamales together. The plot had a very good flow.

[cassiem_41 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just did a read aloud with this book in my 4th grade classroom. This is a great book to introduce other cultures.

[sarahwilmot · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an excellent example of a realistic fiction book because it addresses experiences that are easy to relate to and that are applicable to everyday life. The author shows Hispanic cuisine as well as presents an everyday problem of a lost ring and the ensuing consequences.

[princessofthesea · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Subject Area: Language ArtsGenre: Realistic FictionCritique/Summary:The author bases the story and characters off of things that could happen in real life. The setting is in a home that is familiar to most students' everyday lives. The plot, losing a ring in a batch of tamales, does not seem fantastical or unnatural.The reader can easily put themselves in the position of the main character, Maria, with little stretch of the imagination. (Stars for plot)Age: Intermediate