The Three Little Tamales

Bibliography

Kimmel, Eric A. 2009. The three little tamales. Ill. by Valeria Docampo. New York: Marshall Cavendish Children, Print. ISBN: 9780761455196


Plot Summary
The Three Little Tamales is a retelling of The Three Little Pigs with a spicy twist. Instead of three little pigs looking to strike out on their own, three little tamales wish to escape their fate of being eaten. The first tamale finds a field of sagebrush to build her home. The second builds his home out of cornstalks. The final tamale decides that a cactus with bristling thorns would be the best option for her home. Soon after they have settled into their new homes, Senor Lobo, the Big Bad Wolf comes a knocking. The phrases most children associate with this tale are altered to fit this version. Instead of “Little pig, little pig, let me come in,” Senor Lobo chants “Senorita Tamale, por favor, I want to come in, so open the door.” Each tamale replies, “Senor Lobo, muy lindo, I’m sorry to say, I won’t let you in, so please go away,” instead of the usual “Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin!” So Senor Lobo answers this with “I’ll huff and I’ll puff like a Texas tornado and blow your casita from here to Laredo!” Senor Lobo has no trouble with the first two houses, but when he comes to the third he has some trouble. When he decides to climb the cactus house, the thorns prick his paws, but that doesn’t stop him from attempting to come down the chimney for the tamales. In true fashion, the third tamale hatches a plan to fill a pot with water to boil in the chimney for the wolf to drop into. The wolf gives up and decides that he no longer craves tamales.

Critical Analysis
One of the most interesting qualities of The Three Little Tamales is the glossary at the very front of the book. The author peppers Spanish terms throughout the story along with a definition of the word. The first page, for example, states “Tio Jose and Tia Lupe owned a taqueria, a little restaurant.” This helps authenticate the Hispanic “flavor” the author is trying to get across to his readers. There is also a short author’s note at the very beginning where the author explains his reasoning for writing this version of The Three Little Pigs with tamales.

One of the most interesting aspects of The Three Little Tamales is the glossary at the very front of the book. The author peppers Spanish terms throughout the story along with a definition of the word. The first page, for example, states “Tio Jose and Tia Lupe owned a taqueria, a little restaurant.” This helps authenticate the Hispanic “flavor” the author is trying to get across to his readers. There is also a short author’s note at the very beginning. In it, the author explains his reasoning for writing this version of The Three Little Pigs.

The illustrator used a medium of oil on paper. This medium contributes colorful and bright images to go along with this tale. The tamales each have a unique feature. The females have rosy cheeks, and the male has a long curly mustache. The sister tamale that builds her home from the cactus wears glasses, cluing the reader into her intelligence.

The colors used at the beginning of the story are vibrant. The bright shades reflect that of southwestern Texas. The colors then move into a dark blue color for the next couple of pages when the tamales move into their new homes. The rest of the book features the color green. This is possibly to contrast against the yellow of the tamales, but it is more than likely used to allude to the cactus home and the fields the tamales of chosen to build their homes in.


Review Excerpt(s)
KIRKUS Review: “A flavorful addition to the folktale shelf that begs to be shared with a group.”

Connections
A compare/contrast activity can be done with The Three Little Tamales and The Three Pigs to introduce difference and similarities and how to use a Venn Diagram.

If you teach in a popular with a high Hispanic population, this could be an excellent book to incorporate for vocabulary purposes. These students could teach the class the terms used in the story (taqueria, muy, lindo, etc) to help them better understand the text. This would also give them confidence.

Students can practice writing and point of view by writing in the point of view of one or more of the characters in first person.

Classes that are studying geography, especially the geography of Texas, can read this book after learning about the South Texas Plains. They can discuss if the cactus and the sagebrush would actually be found there or not.