In this week’s episode of Online Storytime, we’re enjoying Tomie dePaola’s STREGA NONA:
Originally published in 1975, the book won a Caldecott Honor in 1976, and its popularity has never waned; it was named one of the “Top 100 Picture Books” of all time in a 2012 poll by the School Library Journal.
In the story, Strega Nona (Italian for “Grandma Witch”) is the source for potions, cures, magic, and comfort in her Calabrian town. Her magical ever-full pasta pot is especially intriguing to hungry Big Anthony. Big Anthony is supposed to look after her house and tend her garden, but one day, when she goes over the mountain to visit Strega Amelia, he recites the magic verse over the pasta pot, with disastrous results.
Do you remember reading Strega Nona as a child?