Strega Nona

Bibliography

De Paola, Tomie. Retold. 1975. STREGA NONA: AN OLD TALE. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0671666061

Plot Summary

In a town named Calabria, lived an old lady named Stega Nona. She was known for her magical touch and cures. As Strega Nona got older, she was unable to do the chores around her house. She hired a boy named Big Anthony who worked very hard for her until one day he noticed her singing a spell over her magic pasta pot. When he went to tell the townspeople what he had seen, they all laughed at him and told him, "You'd better go and confess to the priest, Big Anthony." "Such a lie!" This of course made Big Anthony angry and wanted to prove them wrong.

Two days later Strega Nona left her house to go visit a friend and left Big Anthony in charge. Strega Nona told Big Anthony to "sweep the house and weed the garden." "And remember, don't touch the pasta pot." Soon after she left, Big Anthony quickly sang the song he had remembered Strega Nona sang when she made the pasta appear in the pot. When the pasta began to boil, he anxiously ran to the townspeople to prove them all wrong. All of them hurried over with their forks and plates and filled them full of pasta. When everyone had their share of pasta, Big Anthony sang the magic song he had heard Strega Nona sing, "But, alas, he did not blow the three kisses!" Big Anthony could not get the pasta pot to stop and it began to spill into the town. In the end, Strega Nona saves the town and gives Big Anthony the ultimate punishment of eating every piece of pasta.

Critical Analysis

Tomie De Paola does an excellent job recreating the old Italian tale of The Porridge Pot story. His use of a wise woman, a mischievous young boy, and a bit of magic set back "a long time ago" make this a classic folk tale eager to please its readers. In this particular story, a magical song is repeated each time Strega Nona begins to make her pasta. While Big Anthony secretly watches Strega Nona sing her magical song, he does not realize that she blows three kisses to make the pasta pot stop. This unfortunately gets Big Anthony into a lot of trouble, and in the end Big Anthony is punished for his mischief.

The wonderfully water colored pictures of tiled rooftops and the town square are a reflection of what life was like in old Italy. His simple sketches of each of the characters are easy to read and full of life. Each page is uniquely used, and the illustrations alone could tell the story. Tomie de Paola is known for the similar character sketches and the use of white doves and peacocks that are incorporated throughout his books. Strega Nona stays true to this theme.

Reviews

Caldecott Honor-1976

A kid’s review: “I think this book is really good because it is used with a lot of imaginary. I like how that book has scenes in boxes because it has order in how you are going to read it.”

Connections

To follow up this story, students could find additional information about Tomie De Paola and the story behind Strega Nona.

http://www.tomie.com/books/spotlight_on.html

Additional books by this author include:

De Paola, Tomie. STREGA NONA: HER STORY. ISBN 0399228187
De Paola, Tomie. STREGA NONA MEETS HER MATCH. ISBN 0698114116
De Paola, Tomie. STREGA NONA’S MAGIC LESSON. ISBN 0152817859De Paola, Tomie. STREGA NONA TAKES A VACATION. ISBN 0152817859