I read aloud this picture book a few years ago and loved it. I didn’t realize until I read it that eating tamales on Christmas Eve is a Latin American Christmas Eve tradition. I love it! I love having traditions, and traditions that involve food are even better. Come to think of it, when we lived in southeastern AZ my husband’s co-worker, who is Hispanic, always sent him home with a box of tamales on Christmas Eve. She was such a sweet lady.

Here’s a video read aloud of the book down below so you can enjoy it right away. So be sure to watch it and go put the picture book on hold at your local library.

Then here is a great story involving two missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christmas, and tamales. It is such a sweet story. I just love it. It’s a wonderful story of love and sacrifice. I hope all involved are blessed and prospering because of their sacrifice.

Here’s the beginning of the story:

“I had about two months left on my mission in Costa Rica, and I was serving with an American companion, Sister Nguyen. We were excited to be celebrating Christmas and were preparing small bags of sweets and cookies to deliver on Christmas Eve to friends and families in the small city where we lived.

“I had spent most of my mission in very poor areas, and I was grateful. The Lord had blessed me by allowing me to teach people in humble homes, to live among them and learn of their kindness, their humility, and their spirit of sacrifice.

“The last family we visited to drop off some treats was the Carmona family, a large family that was one of the poorest in the ward. They all—parents, children, in-laws, and grandchildren—lived in a small wooden hut covered with sheet metal, lacking electricity and any other modern comfort. They were preparing traditional tamales that they would eat during the holidays…

Go here to finish reading it.

If you want more Christmas stories, and if you are like me, you can’t have too many! I am obsessed with them, whether they be picture books or stories that stand alone in print with no illustrations.

Anyway, if you want more, go get my FREE family devotionals ebook here. Check out Christmas picture book recommendations here. Merry Christmas and God bless you!