#34 Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola (1975)
51 points
I must have a thing for bowls that duplicate stuff. Strega Nona in many ways mirrors the 4th title on this list, The Full Belly Bowl. But unlike Aylesworth’s book, Strega Nona focuses on humor to get its point across. dePaola’s 1979 classic takes an original tale and makes it feel timeless – no small feat. – Travis Jonker
I was working the Reference Desk one day when a small blond boy knee-high to a butterfly came up to me. He wanted me to find a book for him and I said I’d try. What was it about? “There’s a woman with a white hat but she’s NOT a Pilgrim,” he told me thoroughly. Apparently he had encountered the pilgrim problem before. “And there’s baby Jesus and a donkey and a baker’s son.” Uh-oh. This was not sounding too familiar. A Befana story, maybe? But where does the baker’s son come in? “Uh.. is there anything else you remember?” I asked, not hoping for much. He screwed up his little face then said, “There’s a pot and it has magic spaghetti in it . . . .” Say no more! I made a jackrabbit-like leap to the shelves and pulled off Strega Nona as fast as I could. Baby Jesus and donkey aside, it was exactly the book he was looking for. And why not? Strega Nona is my own personal favorite of the Tomie de Paola oeuvre. The telling, the pictures, the way it all comes together . . . it comes as close to being a perfect picture book as anyone could hope to find.
From my old review: “Strega Nona lives by her lonesome in a small cottage in Calabria, Italy. A witch by trade, she cures the townspeople of their ailments, warts, and headaches. When Big Anthony is hired on as Strega Nona’s servant she gives him very strict instructions on what he is required to do, and what is forbidden. Quoth Strega Nona, ‘The one thing you must never do is touch the pasta pot’. You see where this is going. After watching the witch conjure delicious cooked pasta fully formed from the pot, Anthony is eager to show this miracle himself to the people of the town. When Strega Nona leaves on a trip, Anthony speaks her spell and feeds everyone in the vicinity delicious, piping hot pasta. Unfortunately, Anthony didn’t quite catch the trick to making the pasta stop flowing. As the villagers attempt to prevent the growing threat from destroying their town, Strega Nona arrives just in time to put everything right again. Anthony receives a just comeuppance and all is well in the world.”
Apropos of nothing, I always thought that Big Anthony was kinda cute. This is why I’ve been careful to avoid marrying any picture book characters. I have terrible taste in their men.
I highly recommend reading the Bottom Shelf Books look at this book, particularly the discussion of Streganomics. And that reminds me… are you brave enough to discover the secrets lurking within . . . The DePaola Code?
The New York Times Book Review said of it, “De Paola’s illustrations aptly capture the whimsy of this ancient tale… simple line drawings clearly reveal the agony and ecstasy of pasta power, the muted colors create just the right ambiance for a Medieval village.”
By: Kerry Aradhya,
on 9/26/2011
Blog: Picture Books & Pirouettes (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Tap Dance, Strega Nona's Gift, Oliver Button Is a Sissy, Bullying, National Book Festival, Books for Boys, Tomie dePaola, Strega Nona, Add a tag
On Saturday afternoon, I spent two and a half hours waiting in line at the National Book Festival to meet the one and only Tomie dePaola. Spending the afternoon in line probably doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to most people, but it was actually one of the most memorable experiences I've had in a while. By the end of the two and a half hours, I felt a strong bond with the women near me in line--even if only for that one afternoon--over our mutual adoration for children's books.
One of the women was a first grade teacher, another a reading specialist. Several librarians, a middle school teacher, and a fellow writer surrounded me as well. Our conversations covered adult authors, children's authors, childhood memories of school and books, and the state of the education system in the United States today. And of course, there was Tomie dePaola.
Another of dePaola's books, which actually has a dance theme in it, is Oliver Button Is a Sissy. According to the information on the book's jacket, the problems Oliver Button faces in the story are not unfamiliar to dePaola himself.
The boys at school think Oliver is a sissy, and he doesn't like to do the things the other boys like to do. Even though his father wishes that he was good at playing ball, Oliver would rather be reading books, drawing pictures, playing with paper dolls, or dancing.
When Oliver's mother enrolls him in dancing school, Oliver gets a shiny new pair of tap shoes. The boys at school keep calling him a sissy, but Oliver keeps practicing and practicing his tapping. And when his dance teacher asks him if he would like to participate in the local talent show, Oliver practices even more. When the big day finally arrives, Oliver taps with pizazz. It's not enough to win the talent show, but Oliver wi
Blog: Margo Dill's Read These Books and Use Them! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Skills, Tomie dePaola, Elementary Educators, Books with Science Content, Personal Connections, Preschool to 1st grade teachers, Un-Forgettable Friday, Books with Health Content, Strega Nona, dePaola, Tomie, Big Anthony, Plant Lesson Plans, Strega Nona's Harvest, Picture Book, Add a tag
photo by Southern Foodways Alliance www.flickr.com
*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Strega Nona as the main character
*Rating: Another clever Strega Nona book by Tomie dePaola, perfect for plant lesson plans
Short, short summary: Strega Nona, Big Anthony, and Bambolona are planting seeds with Strega Nona’s direction in the latest installment by Tomie dePaola. This book is perfect for plant lesson plans because Strega Nona starts at the beginning of the planting process–working with the soil and watches her plants grow until harvest time.
While Big Anthony and Bambolona are preparing to plant the seeds, Bambolona scolds Big Anthony and says that he can’t do anything right or perfect like she and Strega Nona. Big Anthony decides to show them by planting his own secret garden. Wait until you see all the crops in that garden and how Big Anthony solves his problem! Tomie dePaola has another hit, and you have a fun resource for plant lesson plans during science class.
So, what do I do with this book?
1. Tomie dePaola puts some Italian vocabulary in this book when Strega Nona, Big Anthony, and Bambolona are talking to each other and the names of the crops in the garden. So besides plant lesson plans, you can also teach your students or your children a little Italian. Words like la luna, mio caro, and libro di giardino are included in the text. For older students, you can discuss how some of the English words are very similar to the Italian words. Students love to learn about and show off another language.
2. Tomie dePaola uses full-page illustrations to tell some of this story instead of including text on every page. During a plant lesson plan, ask students to draw a picture of a plant cycle in Tomie dePaola’s style and without using any words.
3. After Strega Nona has harvested the vegetables, Tomie dePaola writes about how she incorporated the fresh foods into her meals. Another book about using fresh foods from gardens is Bring Me Some Apples and I’ll Make You a Pie by Robin Gourley. This book focuses on the childhood of the famous chef, Edna Lewis, and the way her childhood on her grandma’s farm affected her entire life and her cooking style. You can compare and contrast these two books with a Venn diagram or discuss with students eating fresh fruits and vegetables during a nutrition unit.
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By: Katie B.,
on 11/20/2009
Blog: First Book (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Frank Bruni, Unfriend, Bark for Books, Robert B. Parker, Strega Nona, Nick Hornby, Books & Reading, Kate Jacobs, Literacy Links and Articles, Word of the year, New Oxford American Dictionary, Tomie dePaola, Add a tag
Kids books: A conversation with ‘Strega Nona’ author Tomie dePaola
Tomie dePaola, author of “Strega Nona’s Harvest,” talks about the grandmotherly Italian witch/folk healer and her magic pasta pot.
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Sounds awesome, Kerry! I love spending the day with other readers and writers - so inspiring! We've finally read Elephants Can't Dance and my son loves it - enough to want to read it himself. So, thanks for the suggestion!
Hi, Brooke. Oh, good. I'm glad he liked it! Maybe he'll like the other Elephant & Piggie books, too. Some of them are so funny. I actually thought of you when I wrote this post about Oliver Button Is a Sissy...since it could be considered a boy dance book, too :)
I have not seen Oliver Button is a Sissy - I will have to check it out. I went with my daughter to listen to Tomie DePaola speak at the National Book Festival too - it was so fun to listen to him!
Big Depaolo fan. I reviewed his version of Queen Esther a while back, which was fine, but Front Porch Tales and North Country Whoppers is a thing of perfection.
Thanks for stopping by, Camille and Jonathan. Nice to know some other dePaola fans. Jonathan, I will have to look up Front Porch Tales and North Country Whoppers. The title alone is very intriguing!