Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site
Main
Page This family-friendly site celebrates Italian culture for the enjoyment of children and
adults. Site-Overview
Tomie dePaola was born to parents of Italian and Irish descent in
the U.S.A. in 1934. For over forty years he's worked as an illustrator
and writer of children's books. His best known and most beloved stories are about Strega Nona
(Grandmother Witch), an elderly, magical, grandmother living long ago
in a village in Calabria, Italy. He says he based Strega
Nona loosely on his Italian grandmother. There are eight Strega Nona stories. I link
below to all eight at Amazon.com, and to a DVD of Strega
Nona, and the story of the Befana by Mr.
dePaola. Amazon lets you look inside all the books. Below you'll also find two very entertaining reviews of Strega
Nona by children, taken from Amazon.com. Mr. dePaola has his own
website. He offers a biography of himself, frequently asked questions with
answers, a calendar for the month including gardening chores, and much
more. He even has
Coloring Pages, including an image of Strega Nona! These charming reviews are reproduced from Amazon.com. A Kid's Review I recommend this book because it
is imaginary and makes you think on it. It has a lot of scenes and
drawings that it can make you think about it. It will be good if you
read it and think before you switch the page, what will happen? It is
good for the kids that are just starting to read is just like when you
start to walk. It is short too. For the ones that are lazy whit
reading, and don't want to read a lot. A Kid's Review She haired a guy. One day she was going to visit her friend's she
told the guy to clean the house but do not touch my magic spot, when
she left he touched it n made a lot of sppagatti's he couldn't stop it,
he messed up the village, when she came she stoped it and she gave the
boy punish to eat all sppagatti's.
This book was intresting and helpful
for people, because it teaches you not to touch thing's that people
tells you not to.
This Teacher's
Resource Page provides all kinds of information and links (not all
of them work) for any adult wishing to provide more background about
Tomie dePaola and Strega Nona for children. The University
of Iowa offers a study guide to Strega Nona. The Children's
Lit site has an very short interview with Mr. dePaola, but lots
of reviews of his books, some written by him, some illustrated,
some both. On the Penguin
Books site, there is this interview with Mr. dePaola in which he
talks about his first book for older children (a chapter
book). It is autobiographical, about his growing up in
his Irish/Italian family in Connecticut, in the U.S.A.: 26
Fairmont Avenue. An on-line
quiz about Strega Nona by other children. This is very
sweet. The American Library Association annually awards children's
books with The
Caldecott Honor Books and Medal. Mr. Tomie dePaola won the
title of Honor Book in 1976 for Strega Nona. And he's
received the Newbery Honor Award and the New Hampshire
Governor's Arts Award of Living Treasure, Smithson Medal from
Smithsonian Institution, All Tomie dePaola books at Amazon.com Visit my Angels in Italian Art page Visit my Children's Stories
Page Visit my Children's Books
Page
The
Award-Winning Strega Nona Stories by Tomie dePaola
Strega Nona
Mr. dePaola's Website
Two Children's
Reviews of Strega Nona from Amazon
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.
This book was about a lady lived in a villige. Her name was Strega
Nona, nona had a magic pot and she made spegatti out of that pot. Nona
was gettin old and she needed someone to do her works at home, she
said she's going to feed that person and give that person place to
sleep.
For Parents and Teachers
Awards and Other Books
Regina Medal from Catholic Library Association. And many of
his other books have won awards of their own.
Strega
Nona Books at Amazon
