Growing Up With Tamales/Los tamales de Ana.
Reviewed by Ann Welton, Grant Center for the Expressive Arts, Tacoma, WA -- Críticas, 5/1/2008
Zepeda, Gwendolyn.
tr. by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. illus. by April Ward. U.S.: Piñata: Arte Público Press. 32p. 2008. ISBN 978-1-55885-493-2. $15.95.
Gr 2-4–Ana is six, which means that she is in first grade, learning to write, and beginning to read. But in terms of home, it means that she is old enough to mix the masa (dough) for the Christmas tamales. Her sister, Linda, is eight; so she is old enough to spread the masa on the corn husks. Ana dreams of being eight, so that she will be able to “...spread the dough just right—not too thick and not too thin.” But, of course, when she is eight, Linda will be ten, old enough to fill and roll the tamales. And so, this clever pattern book continues through the years, noting the things Ana will learn each year (when ten, for example, she will know the names of all 50 states and the words to songs on the radio) and the task that will become hers when making the Christmas tamales. By the time she has imagined herself at 18, Ana has given an entire set of directions for assembling and cooking tamales and decided that she wants to start her own business making tamales. This is an involving look at what it means to earn responsibilities—with just a little soupcon of sibling rivalry thrown in. A lovely complement to Gary Soto’s Too Many Tamales (Putnam, 1993), this story has some of the same family feel as Becky Chavarría-Chairéz’s Magda’s Tortillas/Las tortillas de Magda (Piñata, 2000). The Spanish translation is smooth and engaging, and the acrylic illustrations, though just a bit rough edged, make up in verve and vibrancy what they lack in execution (though children certainly won’t find them lacking). This is a cheerful look at a family tradition. Recommended for school and public libraries.
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