Post #4 Multicultural Book

Too Many Tamales
Author: Gary Soto
Illustrator: Ed Martinez
ISBN: 0698114124








        This weeks blog is on a multicultural book. A multicultural book is literature that appears in different genres which present a multiple perspective about the lives, culture, and contributions of each cultural group to American society.

        I found it very hard to find the "perfect" book to write about. While looking through the books at the local library, I came across a book that I knew would be the book I was going to write about. I was very intrigued by the cover of the book. The picture on the cover is of 4 children looking at a plate of food. The look on their faces is of puzzlement and fear. This picture led me to read this book right where I was standing. I knew after I read this story, that I found the "perfect" book.

       Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto is about a young girl named Maria who is helping her Mother prepare the traditional dish tamales for Christmas dinner. Maria wanting to be just like her Mother, is wearing her Mother's apron, perfume, and lipstick and helping out in the kitchen just like a grown up. When Maria's Mother takes off her diamond ring, she can not resist the temptation of puttingon the ring and being just like her Mom. It isn't until after she helps kneading the masa that the ring is missing. Maria fears the ring is lost in the cooked tamales.
       With the help of her cousins, they come up with a plan to eat all the tamales to find the missing ring. When all the tamales are eaten, they discover that the ring was not in the tamales, and cousin Danny thinks he may have eaten the ring by accident when he swallowed something hard. Upset, Maria goes to her Mother to confess what she has done, only to discover that her Mother is wearing the ring.

      This story brought back many memories of myself when I was young and always trying to do what my Mother was doing when she was getting ready to go out, cleaning the house, or talking with her friends. I would manage to sneak in a few minutes of watching her before I made my move onto something that was hers, or making a statement into the conversation. When I would do one of these things, she would look at me and smile, and let me continue exploring into her world. Even now I stop myself when I am doing something just like my Mother (i.e. the way I do the laundry, or how I get myself ready when I am going out for the evening).  I even find myself laughing the way she does when she laughs really hard.

      Though the book is about the Hispanic traditions, it is not the main focus of the story. Gary Soto does a great job in reflecting on the love a young girl has for her Mother and the love the family has for each other. It is a wonderful story and the illustrations by Ed Martinez, celebrate the Hispanic culture by the use of color and, he emphasizes the expressions on the children's faces for every emotion they were feeling.

      I added this book to my collection of Children's book. I would love to read this book to my classroom around the Holiday's when the focus will be on Celebrating Differences. I would recommend this book to everyone.

Post #3 Fairytale

The Swineherd
Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Written: 1841









     In children's books there are many genres to read from. Two such genres are folktales and fairytales. A folktale is a story originating in oral tradition. Folktales fall into a variety of catergories such as legends, ghost stories, fairytales, and fables. Some examples of folktales are paul Bunyon, Johnny Appleseed. Mike Fink, and Pecos Bill.

     A fairytale is a folktale defined as a story created or strongly influenced by oral traditions. Most fairytales include opening with Once upon a time, enchantment, royalty, a wicked character, a kind character, a good deed rewarded in the end, and ending with they lived happily ever after.



Hans Christian Andersen




    I chose to blog about a fairytale written by Hans Christian Andersen. Hans Christian Andersen was born in the town of Odense Denmark on Tuesday April 2nd, 1805.  It was during 1835 that he published the first installment of his fairytales. More stories completing the first volume were published in 1836 and 1837. The quality of these stories was not immediately recognized and they sold poorly.

   The fairytales Andersen is most famous for are The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea, The Snow Queen, and Thumbelina, just to name a few.

For a collection of Andersen's fairytales you can access this link to read many of his fairytales. http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt

             The fairytale I chose is The Swineherd by Hans Christian Andersen. The story was written by Andersen in 1841. The story is about a poor Prince who wants to marry the Emperor's daughter. He asked for her hand in marriage by sending her two of the most valuable things to him.  rosebush that had one rose on it. when one smelled it, it smelled so sweet they forgot their sorrows. The other was a nightingale which sang beautifully. when the Princess received the gifts, she wished they were toys that she could use. she disregarded the rose and let the bird free.
              The Prince did not give up, and decided to dress as a swineherd and went to work in the pigsty at the Emperor's palace. One night, he made a magic kettle that sang a song every time the water boiled. The Princess wanted it, but the swineherd told her she had to give him ten kisses. Reluctantly she gave in. Another night, the swineherd made a magic rattle that played all the songs in the world. The Princess had to have it. The swineherd told her she could have it for one hundred kisses. as the maids circled around them to count the kisses, the emperor had showed up.
              Enraged over what he saw, he banished the Princess and the swineherd from his kingdom. The Princess began to cry and wished she had accepted the proposal of the poor Prince. The swineherd went behind a tree and changed into his princely clothes. When she saw him, she could not help herself but to bow to the prince. The Prince disgusted on how he was treated by her, and how she would not accept a poor Prince, but act foolishly to get presents that she wanted from the swineherd. The prince left her sitting there and went back to his kingdom. There the Princess sat and cried singing the song from her toys.

         I truly enjoyed reading this fairytale. It is not your typical fairytale. The Prince and Princess do not meet and fall in love, there is no wicked character, and the is no happily ever after. This  fairytale is the exact opposite of the fairytale that we are used to reading. The tale has a moral lesson to the story. It is teaching us to not judge a person by what they are, to accept all things in life the way it is, and to not be selfish.

        This can be a great fairytale to introduce into the classroom. It has a valuable lesson that students can relate to when introduced properly. Many of the Andersen fairytales have a moral lesson to them and they are a great read.