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Title: Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola ISBN: 0-671-66606-1 Publisher: Aladdin Library Pub. Date: 03 September, 1979 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.46 (13 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Grandma Witch's Magic Pasta Pot Produces Plenty!
Comment: Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.
To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Strega Nona was one of her picks.
This is an engaging tale of an elderly woman everyone called Grandma Witch, or Strega Nona. She helped everyone with their troubles, even the priest and the sisters in the convent. She could cure headaches, help girls get husbands, and get rid of warts.
Because she was old, she hired Big Anthony to help her with the indoor and outdoor chores. Big Anthony was told not to touch the pasta pot, and he agreed. But one day he saw that she could turn it into a magic pasta pot by singing to it. Unfortunately, Big Anthony did not see all of the magic spell she used.
One day when Strega Nona went to visit her friend Strega Amelia, Big Anthony saw his chance!
Using the magic pasta pot by invoking the magic words, soon Big Anthony has enough pasta for everyone in town. People are very impressed and eat with him. Then he says the magic words to make it stop, and it continues (because he hadn't seen Strega Nona blow three kisses as part of the spell). Soon the pasta is coming out the door and threatens the town!
Fortunately, Strega Nona returns and saves the day. But she wants to sleep in her bed that night. So she tells Big Anthony to start eating pasta to make room for her!
The illustrations are very colorful and beautiful to behold. They are in a simple style that is appealing to young children. I would have enjoyed the book personally, just for the illustrations.
The story is told in a friendly, humorous way rather than a frightening way. You can compare this story to Walt Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice and this one is definitely lighter and more appealing for young children.
My daughter loved to read this story to me, as well as having me read it to her. She loved to laugh at the sight of all that pasta!
The story has won a Caldecott award, which is well deserved.
Overcome your stalled thinking that children don't enjoy stories about witches! In fact, love of this book may be behind the interest in Harry Potter!
Rating: 5
Summary: Bewitched by the best
Comment: It's like "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" but without that annoying mouse. For many youngsters like myself, "Strega Nona", marks my earliest introduction to the delightful Tomie de Paola. To me, this story is pitch perfect. It has everything a classic folktale should have and it tells its story with a coy courteous eloquence. Few picture books are half as classy as "Strega Nona". It is perhaps the world's best.
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 he is forbidden to do. Quoth Strega Nona, "The one thing you must never do is touch the pasta pot". You can probably guess where this is headed. After seeing the witch conjure delicious cooked pasta fully formed from the pot, Anthony is eager to prove this miracle 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 way to make the pasta stop flowing. As the villagers attempt to prevent the growing pasta 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.
I can't pinpoint what exactly it is about this book that touches me so deeply. Maybe it's the imagery in the illustrations. Strega Nona has a prominent recognizable nose and a babuska's kerchief on her head. She is constantly surrounded by large rabbits and peacocks, setting the tone of the life she leads. Tomie de Paola's illustrations always contain an element of spirituality in them, and in this case it comes in the form of the priest and nuns living in the town. I also am greatly attached to the book's choice of words. There's not a syllable out of place in this tale. Not a wasted consonant or a superfluous adjective. It is a perfectly told tale with illustrations that verge on the sublime. All in all, a great book for kids and adults alike.
Rating: 5
Summary: A great old re-told tale!
Comment: This classic story by dePaola is wonderful. The way he illustrates books is my favorite part and his writing and humorous stories makes his re-tellings better than any other authors or illustrators. I am sure if you read this book you would feel like you were in the story. The funniest part is when Big Anthony uses Strega Nona's pasta pot it floods the whole town with pasta. I am not going to tell you anymore...I won't give anything else away.
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Title: Strega Nona's Magic Lessons by Tomie dePaola ISBN: 0152817867 Publisher: Voyager Books Pub. Date: 16 April, 1984 List Price(USD): $7.00 |
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Title: The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola ISBN: 0152438173 Publisher: Voyager Books Pub. Date: 02 September, 1980 List Price(USD): $6.00 |
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Title: Merry Christmas, Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola ISBN: 015253184X Publisher: Voyager Books Pub. Date: 15 September, 1991 List Price(USD): $7.00 |
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Title: Strega Nona Meets Her Match (Paperstar) by Tomie dePaola, Tomie dePaola ISBN: 0698114116 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: July, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Big Anthony and the Magic Ring by Tomie dePaola ISBN: 0156119072 Publisher: Voyager Books Pub. Date: 25 April, 1979 List Price(USD): $6.00 |
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