The Three Little Tamales

Written by Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrated by Valeria Docampo

Bibliographic data
Kimmel, Eric A. 2009. The Three Little Tamales. Ill. by Valeria Docampo. Tarrytown: Marshall Cavendish Children.
ISBN 9780761455196

Plot Summary
This is a story of three little tamales that runaway for fear of being eaten. They each find a home to their liking and settle in. Just like the story of “The Three Little Pigs,” a big bad wolf, Señor Lobo, comes to huff and puff and blow their houses down.

Critical Analysis
The only people in this story are seen in the beginning. The main characters are three tamales, Señor Lobo (the big bad wolf), and some friendly tortillas. Docampo presents personification by giving the tamales and tortillas human facial features and expressions. I found it very cute and clever how Docampo gave the tamales seperate personalities in her illustrations. One of the female tamales has glasses, eye lashes, rosy cheeks, and her tie is around her waist like a belt. The other female tamale has eye lashes, rosy cheeks, and her tie is around her head like a headband. The only male tamale has bushy eyebrows and a mustache.

Docampo used oil and pencils to create her fantastic illustrations. She used very bright and vibrant colors that allow the illustrations to really pop. She also used a whole array of colors, but she really brings out the greens near the end of the story. This is due to the setting being a house made of cacti. Docampo’s pictures are extremely detailed and if you look closely you can see little additions, like a snail and a snake. One of my favorite parts of her illustrations is the way she created the wind that Señor Lobo uses to try and blow the casitas (houses) down. She used a lovely variation of colors from the setting with spirals and circles. You can really visualize the air moving. There are also birds and leaves within the spirals to show the debris caught in the cross fire.

I am a native Texan, so I truly enjoyed the integration of Spanish in the text. It really gives the reader a sense of Texas culture that has derived from Mexican immigrants. Throughout the story Kimmel replaces Spanish words for the English equivalents. To provide a reader with little or no knowledge of Spanish, Kimmel has a glossary of the Spanish terms and their English meanings before the title page.

I loved this version of “The Three Little Pigs.” It is a story that your ESL students will love. After reading this tale I made sure to mention it to the ESL teacher at my school. She was thrilled to learn of the story. This is definitely a must read. I would recommend reading it out loud.
Review Excerpts

v “An excellent addition to collections of fairy-tale retellings.” Booklist

v “Kimmel’s text is eminently readable, as usual.” Horn Book

v “A flavorful addition to the folktale shelf that begs to be shared with a group.” Kirkus Review

v “…a delightful parody sure to satisfy readers’ appetite for fun.” School Library Journal

Connections

v  Have the students create their own version of “The Three Little Pigs”.

v  Compare and contrast “The Three Little Tamales” to “The Three Little Pigs”.

v  Have students find other variations of the folktale.