Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. 4- 8)Ī paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere. This one should become a staple on the holiday menu. Martinez's realistic, nicely composed paintings are glowing with light and life, while he reinforces the story with particularly expressive faces and gestures. Soto's simple text is charmingly direct he skips explanations, letting characters reveal themselves by what they do. 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.

No luck-the ring's on Mom's finger, after all. 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. While they're working, Maria secretly tries on Mom's diamond ring, then forgets about it until she's playing with her cousins. 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.

Too many tamales book