Strega Nona (1975 original; edició 2011)

De Paola retells the classic Italian myth of Strega Nona - a witch who's overly curious and reckless apprentice gets up to no good while she is away - to very humourous effect. His storytelling style is simplistic, but still packs a comedic punch when paired with the careful page layout at the finale. ( )

My favorite book of the year! Great for young children.

It's just a short story but it made me laugh!
Strega Nona (Witch Grandmother) helps the residents her village when they have problems, otherwise she lives in her little cottage and takes care of her garden. She has hired Big Anthony to help her with the heavy chores and one day he sees Strega Nona use her magic pasta pot. Thinking that he can use the magic too, when Nona goes to visit another villager, Big Anthony takes the magic pot and starts the spell. But Big Anthony doesn't understand the workings of the magic pot and gets into a great deal of trouble.

I loved this story not just for the laughter but the reminders it brought to me about my own Nona. ( )

This picture book is about a witch named Strega Nona who lives in a village. She enlists. a man named Big Anthony to help her with some chores, and he ends up discovering one of her spells that produces large amounts of pasta. He ends up trying to use the spell himself and almost drowns the village in pasta until Strega Nona shows up and stops it. I remember reading this when I was younger and I think it's a great book for elementary students to read in ELAR class. It also teaches a valuable lesson about authority and trust. ( )

Fantasy
Strega Nona is a witch who helps villagers with their troubles. She employs a young man named Big Anthony to help her with her chores. One day, he observes her singing a spell to a magic pasta pot to produce large amounts of cooked pasta. This is a story that teaches a lesson about punishment, authority, and trust. As a fantasy book, this story has a good deal of magic throughout the story, which adds a level of wonder but also an aspect that is unrealistic.

This book is a great book that was read to me when I was in elementary school. It is about an older lady who leaves a family member in charge of her magic pot while she goes to town. He then tries to show the town all the magical things the magic pot does but he doesn't know how to make it work, so the magic pot makes tons and tons of noodles and it won't stop. When Strega Nona gets back to the pot she sees what is going on and...well you have to read to find out. I like this book and how the illustration represents other cultures from other time periods. I also like how it shows that when you don't listen to important instructions bad things can happen. ( )