Wrapping Up the Strega Nona Blitz

Strega Nona: Her Story as Told to Tomie dePaola: Though it was published 21 years after the original Strega Nona story, this is a prequel. It tells the story of Strega Nona's birth which explains her close connection to Grandma Concetta whom we meet in Strega Nona Takes a Vacation, gives us a glimpse into how Grandma Concetta taught Nona to be a strega, introduces us to Nona's childhood friend Amelia, whom we meet in Strega Nona Meets Her Match, refers to Grandma Concetta's seashore cottage where she retires after turning the business and home over to Nona, teaches us the origin and secret of the magic pasta pot from the original Strega Nona, and lets us peek at Strega Nona's first meeting with Big Anthony.

You can purchase this book at Amazon, or check it out from your local library.

Maggie Gannon reads aloud Strega Nona: Her Story as Told to Tomie dePaola

Strega Nona Meets Her Match: We meet Strega Nona's childhood friend, Amelia, once again. She is a strega in a town over the hill from Strega Nona. She uses all the latest "scientific" equipment to do her work and looks down a bit on Strega Nona's "old" ways. When Amelia comes for a visit and sees how much business Nona has, she moves her business into Calabria and takes all of Nona's customers.

It gets so bad, that Strega Nona can no longer afford to employ Bambolona and Big Anthony. Bambolona goes back to her father's bakery, but Strega Amelia is happy to hire Big Anthony.

Things are going so well, that Strega Amelia leaves Big Anthony in charge and goes back over the hill to get the rest of the belongings. Big mistake. And just like that, Strega Nona is back in business.

Amazon carries this book if you can't find it at your community library.

Katie's Bookshelf read aloud of Strega Nona Meets Her Match

Jim Henson Company - Strega Nona tells Tomie dePaola a story about being scared

Click here for "Beginning the Strega Nona Blitz" post
Click here for "More Strega Nona Love" post
Click here to read "Merry Christmas, Strega Nona" post.

More Strega Nona Love

Strega Nona Does it Again - Our heroine, Strega Nona, is known throughout Calabria for her problem-solving skills. She gets rid of headaches and warts, helps bald men grow hair, and helps people find their true love. But when Strega Nona gets a letter from her cousin, Duke Andrea di Limone, asking is his daughter can come for a visit to forget about a young man, she has no idea what she's getting into.

Angelina arrives with more luggage than poor Strega Nona can fit into her little cottage. She makes an unfavorable impression on the villagers when she decides to grace them with her presence.

She immediately presses Bambolona into service as her maid and then forces Big Anthony into becoming her footman. They fetch and carry and wait on her hand and foot. When Strega Nona notices that none of the chores Big Anthony and Bambolona usually do for her are getting done because they are so busy serving Angelina, she decides she must come up with a plan.

No spoilers here, but her plan works and her life returns to normal.

Check it out at your community library or buy it from Amazon.

Strega Nona Takes a Vacation - Even those of us who love what we do need to take an occasional vacation.

When Strega Nona begins dreaming about visiting her Grandma Concetta in her house on the seashore, she begins daydreaming at work, and hears her Grandma's voice urging her to take a vacation to the house at the seashore. So she leaves her home and business in the hands of Bambolona and Big Anthony and heads for the seashore.

She has a lovely, rejuvenating time at the seashore, doing all of things she remembers doing with her grandmother many years ago - swimming, fishing, gathering seashells, watching the sun set, falling asleep to the sound of the waves and the smell of the ocean.

She sends gifts to Bambolona and Big Anthony, which takes us back to Calabria. Bambolona wants the gift sent to Big Anthony, so she switches the gifts and that leads to Big Anthony creating a disaster, reminiscent of the pasta pot debacle of the original Strega Nona story.

dePaola's illustrations of Strega Nona's dreams are my favorite part of this story - beautiful colors that take you right to the seashore and I love the bubbles that remind you it is a dream.

Visit Amazon to add this book to your Strega Nona collection.

Katie's Bookshelf - read aloud video Strega Nona Takes a Vacation.

Jim Henson Company - Strega Nona tells Tomie dePaola a story about laughter being the best medicine

Click here to read "Beginning the Strega Nona Blitz" post.
Click here to read "Wrapping Up the Strega Nona Blitz" post.
Click here to read "Merry Christmas, Strega Nona" post.

Beginning the Strega Nona Blitz

I'm on a bit of a Tomie dePaola binge since reading Tomie dePaola: His Art and His Stories. Though I love his autobiographical stories, my introduction to dePaola's work came when I was teaching 1st grade many moons ago and came be way of the delightful tale of Strega Nona.

He has written quite a few books about Strega Nona and her friends:

• Strega Nona: An Original Tale, 1975 (Caldecott Honor Book)
• Big Anthony and the Magic Ring, 1979
• Strega Nona's Magic Lessons, 1982
• Merry Christmas, Strega Nona, 1986
• Strega Nona Meets Her Match, 1993
• Strega Nona, Her Story, 1996
• Big Anthony, His Story, 1998
• Strega Nona Takes a Vacation, 2000
• Brava, Strega Nona: A Heartwarming Pop-Up Book, 2008
• Strega Nona's Harvest, 2009
• Strega Nona's Gift, 2011
• Strega Nona Does It Again, 2013
• The Magical World of Strega Nona: A Treasury, 2015 includes:

• Strega Nona
• Strega Nona Meets Her Match
• Strega Nona, Her Story
• Strega Nona Takes a Vacation
• Strega Nona's Harvest
• Strega Nona's Gift
• New Introductions to Each Story
• Map of Strega Nona's Town
• Family-Friendly Recipes
• An Original Lullaby with Sheet Music
• A CD of the Lullaby, and Tomie Reading Strega Nona, Her Story

• Strega Nona and Her Tomatoes, 2017
• Strega Nona and the Twins, 2017
• Strega Nona: A Classic Board Book, 2017
• Strega Nona's Magic Lessons (new publisher, new design) (December 5, 2017)
• Strega Nona's Magic Ring (formerly Big Anthony and the Magic Ring) (new publisher, new design) (March 27, 2018)

This list would be a great starting place for an author study on dePaola and/or a comprehensive list for a Strega Nona and friends character study. Big Anthony's character can open up conversations about following directions, being honest, and work ethic. Bambolona's traits are the complete opposite, which makes a great compare/contrast lesson.

Today, I'm going to cover Strega Nona, Strega Nona's Magic Lessons, and Strega Nona's Harvest. In future posts, I'll cover several others.

Strega Nona - Strega Nona (grandma witch) is Calabria's resident healer. She is so busy that she hires Big Anthony to help her with the chores around her little house. Little does she know, Big Anthony rarely does anything right. Strega Nona prepares pasta for supper with her magic pasta pot, and Big Anthony becomes obsessed with the pot, but he is not allowed to use it. When she leaves town, Big Anthony, of course, just HAS to try the pasta pot, with disastrous results.

Storyline Online - Mary Steenburgen reads Strega Nona. She makes the pasta song come alive by singing it and accompanying herself on the accordian.

Tomie dePaola tells how this Strega Nona story came to be.

Strega Nona's Magic Lessons - Bambolona, the baker's daughter has been working for Strega Nona for quite a while and now she wants to learn magic. Strega Nona happily agrees to teach her, and Big Anthony wants in on the lessons. When Strega Nona rebuffs him, he storms off and asks the baker to let him learn HIS secrets. Being Big Anthony, he makes a mess of the bakery and gets sent away. As he mopes through the town square, telling everyone how upset he is that Strega Nona won't give him magic lessons, someone mentions that men can't be stregas. So Big Anthony disguises himself as a woman, returns to Strega Nona's home, and is able to join the magic lessons. It does NOT go well.

Strega Nona's Harvest - Strega Nona teaches Bambolona and Big Anthony how to plant a garden, but naturally Big Anthony doesn't like having to make straight furrows and plant like seeds together. He wants to do things his own way - the lazy way ;) and though he follows directions for Strega Nona's garden he decides he will plant his own garden to show her that being fussy isn't necessary. Unexpectedly, Big Anthony's garden does fairly well, but not surprisingly, it creates complications for Strega Nona. With her usual aplomb, Strega Nona solves the problem.

Check your local library for these titles. Library tip: check to see if your library is connected to any other library systems. Our community has a fairly small library, but titles can be requested from the other branches in our regional library network. 

AND...anyone with a library card from our Kitsap Regional Library system can take it to a Seattle library and get a library card to borrow materials from the Seattle network as well. Your community may have the same type of agreement with surrounding areas, so be sure to ask!

Build your Strega Nona library at home via Amazon:

• Strega Nona
• Strega Nona's Magic Lessons
• Strega Nona's Harvest

Next time: Strega Nona Does it Again and Strega Nona takes a Vacation

Jim Henson Company - Strega Nona tells Tomie dePaola a story about her birthday

• Click here to read "More Strega Nona Love" post
• Click here to read "Wrapping Up the Strega Nona Blitz" post.
• Click here to read "Merry Christmas, Strega Nona" post.

Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs

When you hear the name Tomie dePaola, chances are you think of Strega Nona, or one of his many holidays stories, but dePaola has written and/or illustrated 269 books (as of 4/3/2018), including a number of autobiographical stories about his life in a large, loving Irish-Italian family.

Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs is the sweet story of 4-year old Tomie and his relationships with his grandmother who lives downstairs, and his 94-year old great-grandmother, who lives upstairs.

dePaola shows us the tender care given to great-grandma by grandma and the entire family - brushing and braiding her hair each day, helping her to sit in her chair to visit with Tommy each day, feeding her, visiting with her, taking family photos, showing her the love and respect that aging parents need and deserve.

When Nana Upstairs passes away, Tommy struggles to understand what that means. dePaola takes readers through this delicate territory in a gentle, simple manner. It's no wonder that children are drawn to him and his stories.

Tomie dePaola's illustrations are distinctive and appear to be simple. In Tomie dePaola: His Art and Stories, Trina Schart Hyman tells about her attempt to duplicate a "Tomie drawing", thinking it would take 10-20 minutes tops. Six hours and 38 ruined pieces of paper later, she realized, "That seemingly formulaic style, with its simple line, its folksy composition, and its childlike color, was a lot more complex and sophisticated than I bargained for - and almost impossible to duplicate in spirit." 

Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs is available through Amazon.

Reading Rockets interview with Tomie dePaola
Tomie dePaola on why reading is important
Jim Henson Company video  - Strega Nona tells Tomie dePaola a story
Meet Tomie dePaola

Tomie dePaola St. Patrick's Day Trio

Tomie dePaola is known for sharing tales from both his Irish heritage and his Italian heritage. I admire his love for his roots and have enjoyed many of his books over the years. (I'm a Strega Nona fangirl!)

In class, I've been reading St. Patrick's Day books during snack time since the beginning of the month. We've had the opportunity to read not one, not two, but THREE of his St. Patrick's Day books.

First, we read Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato. Jamie O'Rourke is known far and wide as the laziest man in Ireland. His long-suffering wife, Eileen, does everything that is necessary for them to survive. When Eileen's back goes out, Jamie is faced with the reality of having to provide for them. Let's just say he doesn't handle it in the conventional way :)

Later, we read Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka. Jamie is back and still the laziest man in Ireland. Eileen goes on a trip and leaves Jamie to contend with the daily chores, and he responds by deciding to stay in bed the entire time she is gone. As we all know, the best laid plans... and his pals show up to whoop it up in Eileen's absence. When Jamie wakes the next morning, the whole house is clean and he decides to try his luck again and discovers a pooka has been doing his chores. Hmmmm, how will Jamie respond to this good news?

These girls 😍 Both of these books are illustrated in dePaola's trademark style, using a St. Paddy's palette.

To top off our week, we read Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland, dePaola's retelling of the life of St. Patrick. We learned about his life from the time he was captured to be a slave until his death. Be prepared to explain religious vocabulary - most of my students didn't have a frame of reference for missionary, bishop, patron saint, etc...

We had a great follow-up discussion the next morning during our Morning Meeting about how brave he was and what it means to be brave. I showed them this video and asked them to look at what people were writing on the signs. We talked about how bravery is not just about risking your life for something you believe in, but we are brave whenever we do something we know is right even though it frightens us or makes us uncomfortable.

I'll bet your local library has these on the shelves!

If you're looking for a fun, easy prep St. Paddy's math activity, head on over to my TPT store! I've got Lucky Charms math packs for bother upper and lower elementary classes.

Looking for more St. Patrick's Day book suggestions? Click here.
And here
And here
And one more

Merry Christmas, Strega Nona

I love all of the Strega Nona books, but this one was a sweet surprise.  Tomie dePaola tells a great story and manages to introduce lots of new vocabulary, people and places and in a way that informs young readers without insulting their intelligence.

For those of you familiar with the Strega Nona series, you know that Big Anthony rarely does anything right.  He is the bumbling foil to Strega Nona's wise matriarch.  He wreaks havoc everywhere he goes and Strega Nona teaches him life lessons along the way.

As the town of Calabria prepares for Christmas, Strega Nona entrusts Big Anthony with important tasks to help her prepare her annual Christmas Eve feast.  Naturally, Anthony wants her to use her magic instead of expecting him to work, but she steadfastly refuses each time saying, "Christmas has a magic of its own."

Anthony sets off to run errands for Strega Nona, but gets distracted and returns empty-handed, effectively ruining Strega Nona's traditional feast for the entire town.  Strega Nona sadly heads down the hill to the church for Midnight Mass as the townspeople whisper around her about their poor fortune in not being treated to a feast this year. 

After the mass, she trudges up the hill to her little house to find Big Anthony's Christmas gift to her.  He and Bambolona the baker's daughter have prepared the feast and all the townspeople are present to wish her a Merry Christmas.  Strega Nona is thrilled that Anthony has finally to do without magic and Anthony experiences the real magic of Christmas - the joy of serving others.

Merry Christmas, Strega Nona is a gentle, sweet reminder about the things that should be most important to us during the Christmas season.  Take time to read it with your children this year and be sure to look for the winged angels watching the events of the story unfold.

For more Strega Nona books, click here, here, and here.