Title: Too Many Tamales
Author: Gary Soto / Ed Martinez
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
Copyright Date: 1993 Gary Soto
Appropriate Age: K-6th

Brief Synopsis of the Story:

Maria tries on her mother's wedding ring while helping make tamales for a Christmas family get-together. Panic ensues when, hours later, she realizes the ring is missing. This is a wonderful multi-cultural book. Fantastic pictures and illustrations!

Interaction, Activity, or Recipe:

Talk about family traditions at Christmas time. Compare and discuss, with the family, the traditions in Mexico and U.S. Parents can teach their children how to make tamales, invite their neighbors and have a delicious meal. Other topics for discussion: importance of family traditions and values, always tell the truth. It is important to share time with and teach your children.

Recipe:

Tamales - For Mexican fiestas and special occasions, tamales are a favorite treat. Filled with meat, they make a hearty meal - or stuffed with sweets, they're an irresistible dessert. Make them small for snacks or large for a festive meal. Although it is customary to wrap tamales in cornhusks or banana leaves, foil and parchment work well, too. Enjoy the recipes below, then make a few without filling (called blind) to see why Mexicans think tamales are so special.

Ingredients:

Cornhusks, aluminum foil, or parchment
3 cups Masa Harina tortilla flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup lard or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
½ recipe (2 cups) Picadillo

Prepare tamale wrappers as described (*follows). Mix together tortilla flour and water; cover and let stand 20 minutes. In large mixer bowl, beat together lard and salt till fluffy; beat in flour mixture till well combined.

Measure 2 tablespoons dough onto each tamale wrapper, spread to a 5x3-inch rectangle. Spoon 1 scant tablespoon Picadillo onto dough. Roll up; tie ends.

Place tamales on rack in steamer or electric skillet. Add water to just below rack level. Bring to boiling; cover and steam for 40-45 minutes or till tamale pulls away from wrapper, adding water as needed. Makes 26 to 28.

*Assembly directions: Soak cornhusks in warm water several hours or overnight to soften. Pat with paper towel to remove excess moisture. (Or use 8x6-inch squares of foil or parchment.) Measure dough onto wrapper. With spatula or wet fingers, spread dough to desired size, placing one long edge of dough at one edge of wrapper with equal space at the ends.

Spoon desired filling along dough about one inch in from the even long edges, bringing the filling out to both ends. Roll tamale jelly-roll fashion starting with the edge nearest filling, being sure tom make a tight roll. Tie ends securely with pieces of cornhusk or string.

(For foil, fold ends under or twist ends to seal. Place tamales on a rack in a large steamer or electric skillet. Add water to just below rack level; bring to boiling. Cover and steam over medium heat till tamale pulls away from wrapper, adding more water as needed. If desired, wrap cooked tamales in moisture-vapor proof material; freeze. To re-heat, remove moisture-vapor proof wrap and steam again just till tamales are heated through.)

Submitted By:
Name: Ines Guenther
Position/Role: ELL Kindergarten Teacher
School: A. H. Bush
District: Idaho Falls, District #91

Title: Lion Dancer - Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year
Author: Kate Waters and Madeline Slovenz-Low, Photographs by Martha Cooper
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Copyright Date: 1990
Appropriate Age: 5-10

Brief Synopsis of the Story:

Ernie Wan shares in photographs his family preparing to celebrate Chinese New Year. This is the most important day in his life, as he will perform his first Lion Dance on the streets of New York City. Interaction, Activity, or Recipe: Recipe - Family Fortune Cookies 1 roll of refrigerator biscuits, paper, pencils, aluminum foil.

Interaction, Activity, or Recipe:

After reading Lion Dancer, list the foods that Ernie's family ate and discuss which of these foods your family has eaten. Discuss fortune cookies. Have each family member write a fortune on a slip of paper and seal it in aluminum foil. Slightly flatten biscuits and place aluminum foil containing the fortune on one half of the biscuit. Fold the other half over and seal with a fork. Bake according to package directions. Serve with honey and share your foturen!

Related Books/Topics: Sam and The Lucky Money by Karen Chinn.

Submitted By:
Name: Mary Whitcraft
Position/Role: 1st grade teacher
School: Genesee
District: #282

Title: Grandfather's Journey
Author: Allen Say
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Copyright Date: 1982
Appropriate Age: 7-9
Brief Synopsis of the Story:

This is about the travels of a grandfather and grandson. The grandson finally understood his grandfather's story when he retraced his travels. It tells of Japanese culture and the war.

Interaction, Activity, or Recipe:

This book can spark conversation about family vacations or where you would like to travel.

Submitted By:
Name: Jody L. Mahnken
Position/Role: Title-1 Teacher
School: Ustick Elementary
District: Meridian

Title: Sancocho Del Sabado / Saturday Stew (Big Book Edition: Spanish)
Author: L. Torres
Publisher:
Copyright Date:
Appropriate Age: P-12

Brief Synopsis of the Story:

The story of a young girl's visit to the Saturday market with her Grandmother. A wonderful authentic flavor of 'el mercado de aire libre' (open air market), through a child's eyes and the amazing manner in which her Abuela gathers the delicious ingredients for Saturday Stew. Written in Spanish, authentically and colorfully illustrated.

Interaction, Activity, or Recipe:

1. Talk about trading or bartering in other cultures. We don't do this as much in American stores and the concept of exchanging things we need, by providing others with something they need; respect and admiration for older generations and their wisdom; passing on traditions.

2. Illustrate a favorite food: how it looks before/after preparation.

3. Search magazines for similar recipes, exposure to print (Research, copying, citing works, Math/measurements, comparing.)

Related Books/Topics:

Autobus Magico/Magic Schoolbus: Planta una Semilla/Plants a Seed. (Where food comes from, how seeds change into food. Social Studies, production economics, math, science.

Autobus Magico: Se Queda Plantado / Gets Planted: Discusses photosynthesis, plants. Plants that grow above / below ground, experiment using different foods (Science).

Papas El Martes/ Potatoes on Tuesday by Dee Lilligard: Animals gather vegetbles during the week to make stew on Saturday. (Traditions of Saturday Stew, days of the week.)

Older students: World population and food production, environmental issues, economics, need vs. wants; measurement, following procedures correctly, life skills (actually making recipes), publishing skills.

Submitted By:
Name: Rosa Donnette Thaemert
Position/Role: Bilingual / ELL Teacher
School: Wendell Elementary School
District: #232

Title: Everybody Cooks Rice
Author: Nora Dooley
Publisher: (Paper back) Horn Book, Inc. (?)
Copyright Date: 1991
Appropriate Age: 4-10

Brief Synopsis of the Story:

As Carrie wanders around her multi-cultural neighborhood looking for her little brother, every household she visits is preparing some type of rice dish. This book is great on in stressing the important role multi-culturalism plays in our lives.

Interaction, Activity, or Recipe:

This is a fun book to read together, and then at the back of the book is each recipe that the families talk about. As a family you could pick a new recipe to try. Also a great book to use in discussing multi-cultures.

Related Books/Topics: Everybody Bakes Bread by Nora Dooley; Around the World Series by Ann Morris.

Submitted By:
Name: Amy Priestley
Position/Role: Teacher
School: Oakwood Elementary
District: Preston 201

Title: The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush
Author: Tomie dePaola
Publisher: The Putnam & Grosset
Copyright Date: 1988
Appropriate Age: 8-10

Brief Synopsis of the Story:

The story is about a boy called Little Gopher who has a special gift. The other boys his age "would grow up to be warriors", but not him. One day, the boy had a dream-vision. He was to paint on buckskins the stories so that the people would always remember great deeds, great hunts, and great dream-visions. The boy longed to share his dream-vision but he could not find the color for the evening sun. Finally he found the color and it came from a paintbrush flower.

Interaction, Activity, or Recipe:

1. Discuss wildflowers such as the Indian Paintbrush.
2. Make Indian tacos.
3. Paint a sunset from a dream-vision.
4. Study Idaho's wild flowers.
5. Build a Native American village.
6. Study the beliefs and customs of Native Americans.

Related Books/Topics: Miss Rumphius (wild lupiens).

Submitted By:
Name: Mrs. Marci Jennings
Position/Role: 3rd grade teacher
School: Kamiah Elementary
District: #304

Title: Cuantos Dientes Tienes? (How Many teeth?)
Author: Paul Showers
Publisher: Scholastic
Copyright Date: 1995
Appropriate Age: 3

Brief Synopsis of the Story:

This is an informational story about how teeth grow. The story begins with the life of a baby on to adulthood. There are questions and activities that encourage the reader(s) to actively participate in the text.

Interaction, Activity, or Recipe:

Follow the activities suggested in the book and extend the activity by talking about the types of food that build healthy teeth. Go the supermarket and look for foods that keep teeth strong and healthy or foods that destroy or cause cavities. From human teeth, a parent can talk about the difference between domestic animal teeth and human teeth.

Make a healthy dessert with your child and talk about why it's good for your teeth.

Related Books/Topics: Hally Tosis by Dav Pilkey, Scholastic; Loose Tooth by Steven Kroll, Scholastic. Teeth, dental care, nutrition, growth are topics that can be discussed.

Submitted By:
Name: Yoland M. Yannotta
Position/Role: Federal Programs Director
District: Marsing Joint School District #363

Title: Year of Impossible Goodbyes Recipe
Author: Sook Nyul Choi
Publisher: Bantam Doublday Dell Books
Copyright Date: 1991
Appropriate Age: 8-12
Brief Synopsis of the Story:

This is a true story that shows great courage and love and devotion to family. It is 1945, Sookan is ten years old and living in Korea with her family. Her father is in Manchuria with the resistance movement and her older brothers have been sent to labor camps. She is living with her mother, grandfather, aunt, and little brother. Her mother has been put in charge of a sock factory. The girls working there, and the family, must work long hard hours to meet the quota given them by the Japanese military.

When the Japanese took over and occupied Korea, Police Captain Narita did all his power to strip them of everything that was important to them, but he could not break their spirit. Sookan is forced to attend a school run by the Japanese where she receives frequent punishment. Sookan is given so much responsibility for someone so small and young, yet she tries so hard to be brave. Then when the war is finally over, the families in Korea brought out what few items they were able to hid from the Japanese, the Communist Russian troops moved in and took control. Once again the family is suppressed and they know their only hope is to escape to American controlled South Korea.

This is a wonderful story that shows not only a family's love for one another, but the sacrifices people are willing to make for their freedom.

Interaction, Activity, or Recipe:

Talk together, as a family, about the differences that exist between their lives and Sookan's; such as school, work, police, home, etc. Pour uncooked cream of wheat or a similar product into a cookie sheet and draw pictures with a small stick as Sookan and her little brother would have done in the dirt around their home. There are traditional games that could also be played.

Games to play:

Yut(yoot) is probably the most popular game in Korea. It is one of the traditional Korean games that can be played anywhere. It's especially popular on New Year's Day. The game first started in the first century.

RULES: The player throws four wooden sticks each about 8 inches long with one flat side and one round side. In addition, a board would be preferred, but it is not required as one can draw a circular or square diagram on a piece of paper or even on the ground. The objective of "yut" is to move a marker back to the starting point of the diagram before the opponents do. There exists two interior lines that intersect each other in the middle of the diagram and provide short cuts for lucky players. "Yut" can be played by as few as two players and as many as two or three teams. The four wooden sticks make this game unique. How the sticks land after being thrown by a player determines the movement of her or her marker. There are five possible outcomes to a throw. One example, if all four sticks land flat side up, then a player gets to advance his marker four spaces. This move is called the "Yut". But if none of the sticks land flat side up, then the player gets to execute the "mo" move, by moving the marker five spaces. If, however, three of the four sticks land flat side up, a three dot move called the "Kol" is done. The "kae" is a two dot move that occurs when a player lands two of the four sticks flat side up. Finally, "To: is a frustrating one dot move that takes place when only one of four sticks fall flat side up. If a player tosses a "mo" or a "yut", then that player is awarded the privilege of another throw. "Yut" can be a very competitive as well as a leisurely played game. This is due to the fact that not only is the goal of the game to advance to the end, but it is also to knock and opponent player back to the beginning by landing on a space occupied by that opponent. "Yut" is enjoyed by people of all ages and hits the peak of its popularity during the New Year season. It is a fun game to learn how to play. Although, it does take a while.

Another popular game in Korea is called Ssirum. Ssirum, much like wrestling, is a hand to hand combat sport between two opponents. The objective of the match is to throw the opponent to the ground. If any part of the body besides the feet of the wrestler touches the ground, he loses the match. The bestway to picture "Ssirum" is to combine the conventional wrestling with a little bit of judo and a little bit of sumo wrestling. But unlike the other types of wrestling mentioned above, a wrestler taking part in a "Ssirum" match must bind his loins and the upper thigh of his right leg with a 2-foot-long cloth called "Satpa". One wrestler wears a red Satpa while the other wears a blue one. The Ssirum match begins with the two participants are kneeling down on the ground facing each other. Each wrestler grabs a hold of the Satpa at the loins with his right hand while grabbing the Satpa at the thigh with his left hand. The two participants then stand up and try to get the opponent on the ground by employing various tactics and skills. As to the origin of "Ssirum", it is believed to have gained its popularity approximately 1,500 years ago, as paintings of this sport were discovered on a wall in a Koguryo tomb. Ssirum was a sport that was enjoyed by people in all levels of society, from the King to the lowly servants. And during the Shilla and Koryo periods, Ssirum became a part of annual festivities. On every fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, called Paekchung, the biggest Ssirum contests were held. This day was special because the servants had a chance to prove their worthiness and to even climb up the social ladder by displaying his dominance of Ssirum matches. Ssirum still remains very popular among Koreans. Participants range from children to the very competitive professionals. The biggest Ssirum matches are usually held on national holidays.

Recipe:

Fried Rice with Eggs -
Serving Size: 4 - Prep time: 20 minutes

2 cups cooked rice
4 green onions -chopped with tops
2 tablespoons bell peppers
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
5 ounces water chestnuts, canned --*see note
1 cup pork - - cooked and cubed
3 eggs.
· 1 small can, sizes vary

· ** Add cooked chicken or beef instead of pork if preferred. Use up to 2 cups.

Heat the oil in skillet; add onions, green peppers and mushrooms. Sauté until tender. Stir in the cooked rice, sliced water chestnuts and soy sauce. Lower heat and cook 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Mix in 3 3ggs, slightly beaten, and stir constantly for about 3-4 minutes. Add the cubed pork or other meat; heat for about 1 minute more. Serve while warm.

Related Books/Topics: Echoes of the White Giraffe by Sook Nyul Choi

Submitted By:
Name: Kathleen Wistisen
Position/Role: Title-1 Coordinator
School: North Gem
District: #149